Moondance
by hpjkrowling4ever
Summary: Who is Luna really? Does anyone know? Harry, after a disastrous summer before his sixth year, decides to take it upon himself to understand her. Set during his sixth year.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I am back! This time I've got a fic I'm not going to try to make too long, but I've wanted to write this one for quite a while now. It's a Harry/Luna and takes place after The Order of Phoenix. Sorry, guys, that means Sirius is dead. All plot related, don't worry. It also means that Dumbledore is alive. I will not be bashing anyone in this fic and the beginning of The Half Blood Prince does not apply. I don't know if I will get as far as Voldemort's defeat or maybe not…you'll see. If you want a sequel, I'll write one but this fic is mainly how Luna and Harry get together._

_Disclaimer: This fic does not belong to me, all characters are the property of J.K. Rowling's incredible imagination and of Warner Bros. and other corporations with licenses for Harry Potter. DO NOT OWN. I will not repeat this disclaimer in any other chapters, but it applies to all of them. I will use some quotes from the main book. They will be in __**bold**__._

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter One

With a loud shriek, the train chugged laboriously into the station, as if weighed down by the knowledge that it was the bearer of bad news: the start of term. All the way down the platform now wreathed in white steam, cries of children, brothers, sisters and parents could be heard. 'Goodbye' and 'write to me' was shouted as the students clambered into the train, dragging trunks laden down with food, clothes and mementos from the holidays.

Unseen and unnoticed, a young teenager with a mop of unruly black hair and angry green eyes hidden behind round glasses entered the station. His trunk was battered and his owl looked glum in its cage. He stopped for a moment, scanned the thick white steam but seemed to not find what he was looking for. He took his trunk off the trolley, patted his back pocket and picked up his owl's cage. Making a beeline for one of the far carriages, Harry Potter finally entered the train. He found an empty compartment and, ignoring the cries of happiness echoing around the train, he instead put his trunk overhead and hung his owl's cage on one of the various hooks in the compartment. Taking off his rather tattered coat, Harry folded it up neatly and lay down with his head on it. Just as he was taking off his glasses, he heard a knock on the glass door of his compartment. Sighing, he sat up again and leant over to the door, opening it.

Harry looked into the eyes of Luna Lovegood, which were sparkling mysteriously. Her blonde hair was twirled artistically over to one side and cascaded down her shoulders to her waist. She wore her favourite necklace of Butterbeer corks, but her earrings were different; they were beautifully painted purple carrots. Her wand was, as per usual, behind her left ear. To top her whole appearance off, she wore a pale aquamarine dress that went just below her knees.

"I thought you'd be here," she smiled vaguely and looked around the compartment. "Looks jolly. Help me with this trunk, it's accumulated a shocking amount of Nargles going past the Slytherins."

Harry blinked in surprise and stood there gaping in astonishment for a while before Luna prodded him with her wand. Still quite bemused, Harry hefted her trunk into the overhead racks and sat back down.

"How did you know I'd be here?" he asked. Luna, who had been rummaging around in her looked up and stared for a while at him before answering.

"What? Hmm…not quite sure. I think, well, hang on." She pulled a long sheet of pink paper out of her bag and Harry stared at her in complete astonishment. "No idea. Followed the Nargles –Slytherins have too much of them, but," she leaned towards Harry and scanned him with her eyes before pulling away. "Well, you just have a huge colony of them. I'll probably be sick by the end of this journey. However," Luna rolled up the sheet of paper and started waving it around Harry. He slid further towards the door, looking quite scared.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?"

Luna paused and tilted her head to the side.

"You know, you can let go."

Harry shook his head, similar to how a dog would shake itself to get rid of water.

"Pardon?"

"It's not difficult, you know. It takes courage to keep them close, but just as much to let them go."

Harry took a deep breath, finally realising what Luna was going on about.

"You have no idea. You have no idea what I went through this summer. _Nobody_ cares. What makes me think you will?"

Luna sat down next to him, and touched his hand gently, before taking hers away.

"You're my friend," she said simply, and looked out the window. "Friends help each other. I told you last year that you will see them again. **The things we lost have a way of coming back to us in the end.**"

Harry put his head in his hands.

"There is nothing worse than knowing that I'll never see him again. Ron and Hermione didn't write to me much at all, which _hurt_. They knew how much I missed him –nothing from them. I suppose that their excuse will be that they felt I needed time to myself."

"You can't blame them, Harry. They felt they did the right thing. You probably looked like you wanted to be alone."

Harry sighed and threw his head back against the seat.

"How was your summer?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Daddy and I went camping in our secret glade." Luna smiled at Harry. "It was just like when Mummy was with us, except she wasn't there personally."

"Where is this glade?"

"Shh, it's a secret. Only family knows." Luna grinned mysteriously and Harry found himself grinning back, much to his surprise. "Daddy says that one day a Crumple-Horned Snorkack will come. Mummy used to say that she put her 'special stuff' there to attract them."

"What exactly _are_ Crumple-Horned whatsists?" Harry asked.

Before Luna could answer, the train gave an unearthly screech and dragged itself away from the platform of waving parents and hysterical younger siblings. A frenzy of noise and window opening could be heard along the train, but Harry and Luna ignored it. Once the train had started moving at a steady speed and the noise had died down, Harry repeated his question.

"What do you think it is?" Luna's misty grey eyes seemed to pierce Harry as she asked the question. "My Dirigible Plum earrings I wore last year enhance Daddy's and my ability to accept the extraordinary. What you believe a Crumple-Horned Snorkack to be then it could be." Harry looked confused. "'To be or not to be, that is the question?' Muggles are surprisingly astute when it comes to the mysteries of what surrounds us. What are Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, you ask? I can't answer –I believe in them and understand what they could be, but not what they are."

"I think I understand where you're getting to." Harry was smiling and nodding; his eyes had gone from angry to sparkling with the idea of a challenge.

"The ability to accept the extraordinary and then question it is very important. You can't judge what you don't understand or –"

Suddenly the door to the compartment burst open and Ron entered, his face red. Hermione followed him in.

"_There_ you are! We looked for you _everywhere_ and even had to _talk_ to Malfoy so that we could guess where you had disappeared. Of all places to –"

"Luna was talking."

"What?" Ron asked loudly, having not yet noticed Luna. Hermione poked him in the ribs and all of a sudden he seemed to notice that Luna was there. "Oh, hi. As I was saying, why on Earth did you choose this compartment?"

"I said something."

"Huh?" Ron looked surprised.

"Luna was saying something before you came in. If you want, you can put your trunks overhead silently and Luna can finish saying what she was saying."

"Oh no, please don't do that. It's quite alright." Luna smiled dreamily and stood up. She moved to the other seat opposite Harry's and a copy of _The Quibbler_ seemed to materialise into her hands. Harry sighed and his expression shut down. Hermione, who had stayed silent all along, sat down next to Luna.

"What is your dad reporting on?"

"Hello, Hermione Granger." Luna turned to look at Hermione, who smiled uneasily. Harry could tell that she was unsure of how to act around Luna. "Daddy was very happy when you subscribed to the magazine."

"_You_ subscribed to _The Quibbler_? What is this?" Ron finished putting the trunks on the racks and flopped himself down next to Harry, who pursed his lips at Ron's indiscretion.

"It's actually extremely interesting. Mr. Lovegood's theories about the existence of mysterious and new species are fascinating. He has incredible arguments for the existence of Fire Goblins in the Ministry. They may not be true, but they're believable."

"Fire Goblins are mysterious. The normal Goblin race is exclusive and despises the wizarding race, however still works to keep our money safe. Does this give them power?" Luna asked, looking at Hermione.

"I would personally think that if they wanted to cripple the wizarding world, the Goblins have the best way to do it: economically. They power Gringotts. So how do Fire Goblins stop this happening?" Hermione looked animated and Harry caught the excitement and the spark returned to his eyes.

"What is the theory behind Fire Goblins?"

"Daddy says that they are the same species as the Goblins who manage Gringotts, except that they are in league with the Ministry, therefore giving them a certain power over the running of the wizarding world." Luna's words were sharp and clear in contrast to her previously dreamy voice; Harry later learned to associate this to when Luna was talking about something intellectually. The only other times he ever heard her lose the dreamy quality to her voice was when her father or _The Quibbler_ were insulted.

"Therefore, you're saying that since the Fire Goblins might have a say in the wizarding world, the Gringotts Goblins stay quiet?"

"Bloody hell, what's this got to do with _anything_? How are you even believing this rubbish?"

Luna turned her attention to Ron and looked at him with mild interest. She took her wand from behind her ear and twirled it skillfully in her hand.

"Ronald Weasley," Luna's voice had if possible, sharpened to the point to when, if it were an object, it would be an extremely sharp knife. "Are the Chudley Cannons rubbish?"

"I asked you a different question, that's not an answer!"

"No, I'm answering your question. Sometimes questions are more important than answers. Are the Chudley Cannons rubbish?"

Hermione and Harry both turned to look at Ron, who went a bright red and mumbled an answer. Luna kept smiling serenely, and Ron spoke louder.

"They haven't won a league in twenty or more years."

"So tell me why you keep supporting them?" Luna's smile grew wider, if it was possible for it to do so.

"Well, because no one else will." Ron answered as if the answer was obvious.

"There's your answer, then." Luna's voice had resumed its dreamy quality and she turned back to _The Quibbler_.

Harry chuckled to himself. It was going to be an interesting year.

_A/N: What do you think? Good/Not good? I'll update every Saturday so keep reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hi, I'm back! So here's the next chapter of _Moondance_, a day early as I am flying out somewhere on Saturday. I've decided to miss the Welcoming Feast as we all know what happens there and there's not much I can write to do with Luna and Harry because they're both in different houses. Dumbledore's hand is __**not**__ ruined (he needs to not have a time limit on his life). I'm really sorry about this chapter –it is the one chapter where nothing much happens–I really hope you'll keep reading and reserve judgement. _

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Two

Harry's term had started pretty well. He'd been chosen as Quidditch Captain, much to the delight of Gryffindor House. He had his chosen NEWTS –Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Following a conclusion he had come to over the summer, Harry had decided to throw himself into his studies and gets Os in all his NEWTs. Finding out that Professor Snape was now his DADA teacher had almost broken this resolution, but Hermione's quiet support beside him had made him ignore the biased views his teacher had and realise that Professor Snape was actually a very competent teacher. Their new Potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, simply adored Harry. It was nothing to do with Harry's Potions skills, which weren't abysmal since he had decided to actually listen but were still pretty basic, but more with Harry's status as the famous Boy-Who-Lived.

Since the train, Harry and Luna hadn't talked much. They had shared a few smiles in the corridor, but nothing near the conversation they had had during the train ride to Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione had vaguely registered his tendency to look for Luna wherever he was, but hadn't commented on it. Harry, though, was quite sure that they were too obsessed with each other and their unresolved tension to mention it. He himself wasn't sure why he kept looking out for Luna, so he put it down to instinct and worry for her following their adventure into the Department of Mysteries. He tried to ignore the fact that he wasn't looking out for Neville or Ginny.

Malfoy's anger towards Harry seemed to have magnified considerably and he took every chance he had to vent this fury –either through destroying Harry's potions in their lessons together, though Professor Slughorn had successfully stopped that, or throwing vicious hexes at Harry in the corridor. Harry was almost certain that there was something wrong with Malfoy and decided to keep an eye on him.

It was Monday evening on their second week back and Harry, who had been about to schedule Quidditch tryouts, had been called to speak to Professor McGonagall about a 'matter of great importance.' This was how he found himself kicking the wall outside her office, having knocked many times to no avail. He was deep in thought, and jumped when he heard a voice behind him.

"Are you here to discuss the values of transforming a pig into a goat? I am." The familiar dreamy tone accompanied by the totally unrelated comment made Harry smile. He turned around.

"Hi, Luna. How're you?" he leant against the wall behind him nonchalantly, feeling like he needed to do something for some odd reason he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I think that I am quite unwell. I'm not sure why, because I only see things upside down in the mornings. Why, all my clothes were stuck to the ceiling above my bed when I woke up! It must be the spirits." Luna nibbled on the end of her wand, and Harry bit his tongue before the comment about it being dangerous slipped from his lips. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's you?" Luna frowned in confusion at him. "Well, it could be someone doing it to you."

"That's funny, because that _did_ cross my mind but then I thought that people had finished with that."

"A leopard doesn't change its spots." Harry muttered, thinking about Malfoy in particular.

"It would be quite unfair if it _was_ my housemates." Luna hummed to herself before turning to Harry and storing her wand behind her ear again. "How come you've turned up here?"

"McGonagall wants to talk to be for some obscure reason. I would've thought she'd've wanted me to hold the Quidditch trials."

"Funny that. She wanted to talk as well, so I took the opportunity to look over my notes and have decided that transforming pigs into goats is quite the course to follow." Luna smiled vaguely and joined Harry in leaning against the wall. "I don't see why this is such a desirable position to stand in. I suppose your back is so weak from Quidditch."

"Oi! What's wrong with Quidditch?" Harry mock-glared at Luna, who gave a dreamy chuckle.

"You bend so forward when you try to look for the Snitch. Every magical object has a way of avoiding its predator and exploits their weakness."

Abruptly, Professor McGonagall's door opened and her voice rang out clearly in the corridor.

"Miss Lovegood, Mr. Potter, please come in."

Harry and Luna glanced at each other –Harry looking nervous and Luna looking a bit more in the moment then she normally looked– and walked into Professor McGonagall's office.

It was a spacious, well-aired room. Professor McGonagall's desk was right opposite the door and in front of gleaming windows looking down at the Quidditch Pitch. Gryffindor banners hung down on the walls beside her desk, along with photos of Gryffindor House and Gryffindor Quidditch Team from all the years she had been a teacher at the school. Two red velvet chairs were placed in front of Professor McGonagall's desk and Harry and Luna gingerly sat down in them.

"I'm sure you're both wondering why I have called you here."

"Professor, I assumed your reason was of interest, however I was wondering if you would mind explaining the values of transforming a pig into a goat." Luna absently twirled a strand of her hair around her finger while staring at Professor McGonagall through her large grey eyes.

"Miss Lovegood! What kind of a question is that?"

"It is a question of purely academic purposes, I assure you, Professor. The previous lesson where you transformed a pig into a bird but I thought that the merits of transforming it into a goat were much greater, as a goat's mind is comparable to a pig's –thus the pig would not be confused by the transformation, and a goat has much more economical merit than a bird. What is your view on this subject?"

Professor McGonagall stared at Luna in utter astonishment. Struggling for breath, Harry was shaking in his seat.

"Miss Lovegood, I feel that this is a discussion for the classroom and not my office."

"But is that not why you called us here? I surely feel that if I am to see a professor of mine I must ask them a question on their subject I have not previously asked them."

Finally breathing again, Harry decided to join into the conversation.

"Personally –"

"Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood! Please kindly continue this discussion outside of my office." Luna looked genuinely confused as to why Professor McGonagall was not answering her question, and the poor Head of House took pity on her. "Miss Lovegood, the point of that lesson was to show that such a difficult transformation is indeed possible. You are correct in assuming that it would be easier if the pig were to become a goat, however that was not the point of the lesson."

Luna nodded seriously and then smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Professor!"

Professor McGonagall grasped the opening in the conversation with both hands.

"I asked you both to come following the success of your so-called Dumbledore's Army last year has boosted Hogwarts' results in Defense Against the Dark Arts substantially. I would like you and Miss Lovegood to set up a Defense Association where you teach students unsure about defense. You may use one of the Defense classrooms on the fourth floor."

Harry let out a breath and glanced at Luna. She had a huge smile on her face and her hair was completely wrapped around her wrist.

"I think I can answer for the both of us when we say we'd be delighted."

"Excellent. I'll owl you with the main idea later, however I would like you to put signs up around the school. Organise times yourself. Make them quite accessible times for all years –Miss Granger should be able to help you with that. The point is that if any student thinks they need help with Defense they come to these sessions. Organise duels and so on to keep them entertained."

Harry and Luna were soon dismissed and they both went out into the corridor where they burst out laughing.

"No way! This way we can see more of each other!" There was a palpable pause after Harry's words where they both stared at each other.

"I would be delighted to see more of you." Luna took Harry's hand in hers. He suddenly found himself with goosebumps all the way up his arm. "I am very happy to be friends with you."

Harry wanted to say more, but Luna walked off into the other direction, humming under her breath. Despite his euphoria at Professor McGonagall's announcement, Harry cursed under his breath and resolved to be better next time. What he wanted to be better at, he had no idea. He just knew it was important.

He had no idea just what would happen.

_A/N: I'm so sorry! I know, I know, this isn't a very good chapter! For those out there still reserving judgement, please continue reserving it! I'm so sorry I might just post a new one on Monday to make up for the horror of this chapter. I know that not much happens at all, but there _is_ a plot to this, trust me. The Defense Association is important in bringing Luna and Harry together._

_I'm making this ten/eleven chapters long and Voldemort will not be killed in those ten/eleven chapters. If you think I should write a sequel, please tell me. Remember, the point of this is Luna and Harry's relationship –how it develops, what ups and downs it has. It may have to be a bit rushed because it's ten/eleven chapters (I don't want this to be one of those fics where the chapters go on forever, especially since I'm quite new to ffnet) but there is a plan to this and it deviates quite a bit from canon. Please keep reading –don't leave it now when it's only just started!_

_hpjkrowling4ever_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed –it was really good reading them. I know that it was Luna and Harry called, and not Ron and Hermione, but that will be explained in this chapter. I've looked a bit longer and may think about defeating Voldemort, but I'm working on that still and I don't have a clear idea of my last chapter so…well I'll see. Here goes!_

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Three

Putting down his quill with a sigh, Harry surveyed his DADA study. Across from him, Ron sighed loudly, receiving a glare from Hermione. Harry studiously ignored them and corrected a few more mistakes.

"Do you think it's better to use the Stinging Hex or the Revulsion Jinx when trying to repel someone? I've said the Revulsion Jinx but the Stinging Hex hurts more…" Harry trailed off when he saw Ron's face. "What?"

"What is it with you and work this term? I can't cope with it!" Hermione glared furiously at Ron's exclamation but refused to speak to him. They hadn't been speaking for a while.

"I've got to finish this and since McGonagall asked Luna and I to set up the Defense Association I'm trying to get all my work done so that I can plan things out with her this evening."

"I don't understand why she didn't ask Hermione and I to do it instead of you and Luna."

Harry paused. He and Hermione had discussed this in length and had surmised that the reason was because Hermione was a Prefect and was doing an absurd amount of N.E. compared to everyone else and Ron just wasn't responsible enough to be in charge of such a important group. Harry and Luna didn't have much responsibility, except that he was Quidditch Captain, but they were both good students and had proven that time and time again. Harry wasn't quite sure how to phrase this to Ron.

"I don't really know."

"I do." Behind Harry, Luna's dreamy voice spoke. Hermione's head snapped up, Harry smiled at Luna and helped her into a chair next to him, and Ron rolled his eyes.

"_This_ is what I don't understand!" Ron whispered furiously, after a look from Madame Pince.

"Don't be such a fool, Ronald!" Hermione finally spoke. "You know that we don't have time to help Harry with anything now, we're so busy with Prefect duties and we've got so much work! The only time we really see Harry is to study and even then it's difficult to properly talk to him. How do you think we'd be able to help him with the new DA? Furthermore, Luna and Harry have almost identical timetables, except that Luna takes Care of Magical Creatures instead of Potions." She smiled sheepishly at Harry and Luna. "I checked with McGonagall."

"You actually _went_ to her?" Harry asked in astonishment.

Hermione huffed and didn't reply. Luna smiled serenely at Ron.

"I'm happy to see you again." She chuckled as if she had said something amusing, and then turned to Harry. "I've been to the Defense classrooms."

"Were they alright?"

"There's an evil spirit in one and I think that Peeves is painting the walls orange in another, but they seem to be satisfactory."

Harry snorted and Hermione looked vaguely alarmed and stood up. She grabbed Ron's hand and tugged him off his chair. With a crash, he fell to the ground and Madame Pince strode over.

"What in Merlin's name is happening? This is a library, not the Quidditch Pitch!" Madame Pince said in her high, reedy voice. Hermione helped Ron from the floor and righted the chair, apologising profusely to Madame Pince. Looking mollified, she shuffled back to her desk.

"Come on, Ron, we need to catch Peeves before he finished painting the room. Come on!" Ron was brushing himself off deliberately slowly. She dragged him out, saying goodnight to Harry and Luna on the way.

Left alone with Luna, Harry pulled out a new sheet of paper and started writing down some suggestions to put on a poster.

"Maybe we should say 'Defense Association' in big letters and then some sort of slogan underneath in slightly smaller print and then meeting times under that."

Luna nodded.

"I think that's quite alright. I'll do the meeting times in pink, so then the Nargles can't bring bad luck. Look at the rooms and make sure you don't choose the one with the evil spirit. I don't understand what could possibly be so bad he needs to wail so loudly. Maybe I should talk to him-"

Harry put his hand on Luna's shoulder to stop her talking about evil spirits.

"Leave him be." He waved the paper at Luna. "Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 until 9:00? Does that work?"

"Let me think." Luna started muttering to herself and counting things off her fingers. "That would be wonderful."

She stood up, took the piece of paper and glided off to some other part of the library. Harry watched her go, completely unaware that his quill was slowly spreading ink all over his DADA study.

* * *

><p>The Defense Association was a hit. A huge number of people turned up to it –Harry had a feeling that a third of them were only there to see the famous Harry Potter, but he ignored that. He had decided to hold an impromptu meeting on Friday evening to demonstrate a proper duel. He and Luna had made a list of those who seriously needed help with their Defense and had placed them at the front of the duel, and at the back were those who knew what they were doing and used the DA as extra practice. Harry, who was in charge of teaching the older years, had put papers next to them, asking them to identify the spells Harry and Luna would be using, going by their colour or their effect. Luna had been working on teaching the younger, more inexperienced students and had put papers next to them asking them to identify one spell and write about it.<p>

Harry had locked himself in a room with Hermione and Ron and had worked extensively on non-verbal spells. He didn't know where Luna had got to, but he was aware of her skill at spellwork and had decided not to underestimate her.

The day before the duel, Harry was walking down to the Lake to practice some spells, when he heard shouts behind him. He recognised the voice as Cormac McLaggen's, a hugely self-confident, rude and arrogant boy who was desperate to be on the Quidditch team and sucked up to Harry massively for this favour. Despite this, he was still Reserve Keeper and Ron remained the proper Keeper. Ignoring the shouts, he walked further ahead but whirled around when he heard a shrill scream of a girl. Not any girl –Luna. He sprinted towards where the indistinct shapes and stopped a few metres away from them. They were so engrossed in bullying Luna that they did not realise that Harry was there.

One of McLaggen's cronies was levitating Luna up into the air, and had her held upside down. Another of his cronies was throwing stinging hexes towards her and this was making her shout in pain. Her necklace of Butterbeer corks had fallen to the ground and her wand was lying beside them. McLaggen was whispering things into her ear and she was desperately trying to move away from him.

Halfway through the stinging hexes, Harry, with a roar rather like an enraged bull, had sprinted in fury towards McLaggen. He had had to cover some ground before he reached them, but the Reserve Keeper and his cronies were so surprised to see him that they didn't react at first when Harry tackled McLaggen to the ground, he was so furious. However, the large boy had the advantage of size and easily pushed Harry onto his back. Harry reached for his wand and cast the Revulsion Jinx at McLaggen, who flew away from him. Chuckling, Harry loomed over him, waved his wand and stupefied him. Turning to the other boys, he waved them away and sent them scurrying. He turned to help Luna up, and as he was helping her brush down, he heard movement behind him.

"Harry! Watch out! Duck!" Luna cried, but Harry ducked too late and McLaggen's fist hit him on his jaw, sending him sprawling against Luna.

"You coward –you can't even hit me with your fist. You have to use a wand." McLaggen cackled and walked ominously towards Harry.

"Wh-What about you? Y-You c-can't even throw a spell." Harry massaged his jaw and stood up unsteadily to face McLaggen. "I challenge you to a duel, tomorrow, after I've duelled Luna. In the same place, in front of the DA. Do you accept?"

McLaggen hesitated, but then nodded curtly and turned away. Harry turned back to Luna, who smiled tearily at him.

"Sorry for crashing into you."

"What are you sorry about? You helped me. The least I could do was to help you stay up. That's what friends do, and you're my friend."

For some reason, Luna blushed as she said that statement and Harry averted his eyes.

"I, er, well I need to get up to the Infirmary. Hmm." Harry stepped around Luna and headed towards the castle. He stopped when he felt her hand on his arm.

"Since I'm the reason for you being like this, I better come as well." Luna started walking but turned back when she saw that Harry wasn't following. "I should also make sure that the Wrackspurts don't get to you. Yes, that'd be a disaster –you and Wrackspurts, knowing what you're like."

Harry smiled and headed towards Luna. She waited and then she linked arms with him and tried to get him to skip up to Hogwarts.

It didn't work.

_A/N: So here's my update for the week. I'm building up to their relationship, so hang in there. See you soon...as as per usual, please review!_

_NB: I changed the chapter slightly after a review which didn't 'wash well'. I appreciated the points made and have tried to change Harry's reaction to Luna's bullying to be more appropriate. Thank you for your comments._

_hpjkrowling4ever_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry my posting's been so irregular since I started this fic –I promise I'll try to be normal for the next few weeks. Just a note about the duel –I have completely invented the duelling procedure so don't blame me if it doesn't match anything J.K. Rowling or anyone else has written. So here goes the next chapter:_

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Four

The light hit Harry straight in the eyes and he moaned and rolled over, only to suddenly find his hand hitting something hard and wooden. He sat up and groaned as his jaw throbbed and his head ached. Hearing a door open, he blinked viciously and fumbled for his glasses.

"So how are you today, Mr. Potter?" Madame Pomfrey's sharp, angular face suddenly came into sharp focus and Harry jumped back, sending another spike of pain through his jaw.

"Be'er," he mumbled and yawned widely. He heard a crack and suddenly his face felt a lot looser. "There we are."

"Miss Lovegood was quite frantic when she came this morning and you weren't awake yet. She was muttering Merlin knows what and wanted to know if you wanted some Plimpy Juice, whatever _that_ may be." Madame Pomfrey sniffed disdainfully and fluffed up Harry's cushions. "Now, I'll let you out after lunch. Make sure you don't go around asking for fights –I've got more than enough on my hands without _you_ coming to bother me again." She suddenly pulled out a potions vial with a thick, gloopy, and green-like concoction inside. Harry's stomach threatened to turn over.

"Wh-What is that?"

"Pain Reliever. Drink or I'll send you to Professor Dumbledore."

Reluctantly, Harry swallowed the spoonful of the potion Madame Pomfrey offered to him. It tasted foul –like one of Hagrid's more disgusting drinks and he pinched his nose to try to get rid of the taste. Madame Pomfrey nodded approvingly, fluffed his pillows again and strode away.

Falling back against his pillows, Harry decided to review his situation.

He was stuck in the Infirmary. This meant quite a few things:

He had missed at least three lessons.

He had missed Ron and Hermione.

He had missed seeing McLaggen's face at breakfast.

He had missed looking for Luna at breakfast.

For some reason, number 4 made him feel even worse.

Ron and Hermione hadn't asked to visit him.

Luna had (this made his stomach flip and it had nothing to do with the potion, Harry was sure)

The DA duel was today. This meant he'd be seeing Luna.

He had no idea why Luna was having such an effect on him this year. She was in the same year as Ginny and hadn't even reached his radar as being remotely attractive when they had been in Dumbledore's Army last year. Then again, Luna _wasn't_ attractive –sure, she had long, gorgeous blonde hair and her eyes were magnificent, but the thing that made her so brilliant was her ability to speak the truth when she wasn't aware that she was doing it. Ginny hadn't been able to make him smile at a simple sentence said at any moment, and she was stunning. Ginny hadn't been able to make him question his beliefs in pretty much anything. Ginny hadn't been able to make him do a lot of things Luna had. He would _never_ in his wildest dreams have imagined running to help Ginny. That was untrue, actually –he would have helped but been a lot more rational about it (he wouldn't have been so reckless and tackled McLaggen –the other boy was much larger and stronger than he was physically).

He heard another door open and Madame Pomfrey's stern voice. He closed his eyes and let out his breath. Suddenly, he felt a light touch on his arm and he almost fell off the bed when he opened his eyes and saw Luna, Hermione and Ron standing next to his bed.

"Are you _trying_ to give me another injury?"

"You fool! Why are you in here again?" Hermione slapped his arm, barely missing Luna's hand.

"I remember you spending time here. I always thought you and Madame Pomfrey had something going." Luna remarked out of the blue. Ron turned to gape at her.

"Bloody hell! Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"They must have developed quite a friendship." Luna hummed and sat down on a chair next to Harry.

"I _suggest_," Hermione turned a poisonous look onto both Ron and Luna, "I _suggest_ that we ask how Harry's doing-"

"Oh! Is _that_ why you're here? I was wondering about that."

"How do you get _any_ sense out of her at all?" Ron was flat-out staring at Luna in astonishment. Harry chuckled, and was about to speak when Luna spoke to Ron.

"I find you quite rude, do you know that?" she asked, and turned back to Harry, choosing not to comment on Ron's excellent imitation of a fish. "I was wondering: have you seen my raincoat anywhere? I was going to ask you when we met later for the DA, but I suddenly remembered you were here so I came to find you and bumped into these two." Luna gestured to Hermione but ignored Ron. "It's quite incredible the things you find out."

Harry smiled widely. It was when Luna said things like that. They almost made him forget the Sirius was dead and that Voldemort was truly back.

"I'm fine, Hermione. Thank you for asking. Luna, I'm sorry but I haven't seen your raincoat anywhere."

"Oh well. I suppose I'll find them somehow. The pixies probably took them."

The door opened again and soon, Professor Dumbledore came into focus. Harry sat up straight in his bed, Hermione stood even straighter (if that was possible), Ron jumped to attention and Luna merely looked at Professor Dumbledore before turning back to Harry.

"Harry my boy! I heard that you were taken unwell. I suppose you crashed into a door? I often find myself doing that." Professor Dumbledore surveyed the small gathering. "I wonder if you might leave Harry and myself alone for a short while. You may wait outside, I'll ask Poppy to call you back in when I'm done."

Luna was the first to stand up. She smiled absently at the Headmaster, and glided out, followed by a bemused Ron and a silent Hermione. Once they had left, Professor Dumbledore sat down in Luna's recently vacated chair.

"I am so very sorry for not contacting you earlier, most especially sorry as I did not come to congratulate you on accepting the role of DA supervisor –or teacher, whatever title you prefer."

"No title, sir." Harry smiled politely and wondered why Professor Dumbledore was here. He was sure that his test results weren't _that_ bad that he had to be talking to him, or that the water balloon prank he and Ron and done on Seamus had had that many repercussions. Why was the Headmaster here?

"Harry, my boy, I am here to ask you a very serious question." He paused. "What do you know about Lord Voldemort?"

"Well, he was previously called Tom Marvolo Riddle and went to Hogwarts about fifty years ago. He won an award for Special Services to the School though I can't remember what for. He's a half blood –"

Professor Dumbledore jumped up and started walking around the room waving his arms about.

"_That's the question_! My boy, don't you want to know the reason behind Lord Voldemort's quest for purebloods when he's a half blood? Merlin's beard, Harry, if only…if only we could understand his motivation."

"Professor, I'm sorry if I'm being rude but is there a reason why you are here? Sir?" Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore, who had halted and was peering at Harry over his half-moon glasses.

"Harry –I was hoping beyond hope that you'd accept Minerva's offer to be the head of the DA and you did. This is your drive to do well, to do better and to finally overcome Lord Voldemort. But there's more to Lord Voldemort than overcoming him with spells. It's all very well to train the school and to keep practicing, but you _need to get inside his mind_." Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore anxiously. "Come to my office on Sunday, as soon as you've had lunch. Harry, I will show you Lord Voldemort."

With that, Professor Dumbledore flew out of the room in a blaze of colours, leaving Harry in his bed, drowning in his bewilderment. After a moment or two, Luna entered and walked towards him.

"I have a free period now, Hermione and Ronald had to leave. Why was the Headmaster here?" She caught sight of the chair and sat down. Harry scratched his head.

"I dunno. He came in and started rambling on about Lord Voldemort and then told me to meet him on Sunday after lunch."

Luna tapped her thigh absently and closed her eyes.

"Lord Voldemort is said to be a monster. But is he not a man as well? I think that the question is what made him this 'monster'? What pushes a man to the brink of madness?"

"I don't know, power?"

"Then that's what Professor Dumbledore will be showing you." In one of her moments of clarity, Luna stared hard at Harry. "What power does to a man is destructive. Remember that."

The entire school had turned out to watch Harry and Luna's duel. Hiring Ron, Hermione and Neville's help, Harry handed his friends the test sheets and told them who to hand them out to. Then he went towards the platform that had been set out and started muttering spells to himself. On the other side of the platform he could just see Luna, who was tapping her wand against the palm of her hand to some sort of beat.

"Students of Hogwarts!" Professor Dumbledore stood in the middle of the platform and sent a burst of sparks out from the end of his wand, attracting the attention of the student populace. "Before we start, Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood asked me to remind you to complete the sheets of paper you have been given. This duel is mostly non-verbal, but they have told me to remind you that if any spells are said verbally, not to write about them. I would now like to introduce Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood who have kindly agreed to put on a duel for us this evening."

Harry and Luna nodded to each other from either ends of the platform and walked towards Professor Dumbledore simultaneously. They stopped on either side of him and both pointed their wands to the ground, as duelling courtesy demanded.

"Please give them a round of applause!"

Harry smiled widely at Luna when the assembled students burst into applause. Professor Dumbledore led Harry and Luna to the middle of the platform and asked them to take duelling positions. The applause died down and everyone watched as Harry and Luna stared hard at each other, then they raised their wands to their chins, and then crossed them. Professor Dumbledore counted to ten and they whipped their wands back to their sides, turned their backs to each other and walked six strides away from each other.

"Start!" Professor Dumbledore shouted.

Harry whirled around and a purple spell shot from his wand, heading at full speed towards Luna. Jumping aside, she sent a volley of stunners towards him, followed by a string of flame. Harry cast a _Protego_ and then tried to cast an _Aguamenti_ but had a slight delay, causing him to be singed. Sending a series of _Expelliarmus_ interspersed with some stunners and Bat-Bogey hexes, Luna was overcome and fell down while avoiding a stunner and a Bat-Bogey hex. Harry took advantage and summoned a chair and sent it flying towards Luna. While trying to duck from the chair, she got hit by a stray stunner of Harry's and fell to the ground, immobilised. Harry ran over to her and checked her over for any injuries and then revived her.

"Thank you, Harry Potter." Luna smiled, coughed and then sat up. The students started clapping enthusiastically. While the clapping was ongoing, Luna spoke again. "I am at least glad I managed to singe you. Trust me, your robes are improved by the addition. However, there is no visible sign I have been injured." She sighed. "One cannot always look like a hero, I suppose. Inside or outside."

Harry glanced at her in surprise, wondering if she was being unusually perceptive again, like that first day on the train. However, Luna showed no sign of realising what she had said and had stood up, dragging Harry with her, to acknowledge the applause. Professor Dumbledore came to the stage.

"Thank you very much for watching the duel! I hope that you have succeeded in writing down everything expected of you. Now, however, before you all leave, Mr. Potter has asked me to tell you that he and Mr. McLaggen, who had kindly volunteered himself, will be having a duel. Mr. McLaggen, please come to the platform."

McLaggen tentatively walked up to the platform and stood next to Professor Dumbledore. He looked nervous but quite sure of himself.

"You do not need to write anything you do not want to write down." Professor Dumbledore smiled. "Miss Lovegood, please get down from the platform."

Luna left the platform and Harry and McLaggen took their duelling positions. There was a pause when they had turned around and then almost at once spells started shooting from McLaggen's wand in no coherent order. Harry put up a _Protego_ and sent jets of flame towards McLaggen. Feeling his _Protego _failing, Harry rolled to the ground and casted an _Incarcerous_. The spell hit McLaggen in the legs and he fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Harry smiled –he knew he had now won. In fact, he had known he would. He walked over to McLaggen and cast another _Incarcerous_. Just as the assembled audience had started to clap, McLaggen wrenched his arms from his bindings and pulled Harry to the ground.

The last thing Harry saw before he blacked out was the smiling face of Cormac McLaggen.

_A/N: I know, again one day early but I've had this done for a while already. I hope that it's okay, I've been quite busy and I haven't had time to read it over so if there are any mistakes, please let me know and I'll try to fix them. _


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Hello –finally on the day! I've decided that it's probably better that I go beyond eleven chapters –I'm not going to make a sequel to this (unfortunately?). Right, I've done a pretty bad thing –I've forgotten to mention that the Quidditch tryouts had already occurred, so bear with if I just say they have, because they're about a week into school already and in the before last chapter I mentioned how Ron was Keeper and McLaggen was Reserve Keeper. We reached Harry blacking out BIG CHAPTER here!_

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Five

When Harry opened his eyes, he sighed and closed them again. They shot open again when he felt someone sit down next to him. With a sense of déjà vu, he turned to look next to him and saw Luna sitting next to him looking apologetic. He reached for his glasses and felt Luna's hand touch his as she handed them to him.

"Hey." He smiled. "What happened to me?"

"Well, you injured yourself." Luna smiled back at him.

Harry chuckled, and found that Luna's comments were no longer so odd. In fact, they seemed quite normal. They looked at each other for a while and then Harry shook his head.

"Well, why am I here?"

"You hit your head when McLaggen pulled you to the ground. Thinking about that, it knocked out a substantial amount of Wrackspurts from you and they transferred to McLaggen."

"I thought it was Nargles."

"Well, Nargles and Wrackspurts are different forms of the same thing. Nargles haunt those who are disturbed intellectually, morally or in any way that isn't physical. They also go around mistletoe, because many dreams are to be kissed under mistletoe and it haunts some people when they aren't. Wrackspurts are a different form that disturbs those who are partially healed but still hurt. You're better, Harry and McLaggen is worse."

"**The ones we love never truly leave us**." Harry muttered. "Sirius doesn't leave me, you know, Luna. I see him everywhere –except when I'm happy. Playing chess with Ron, being in the library with Hermione, teaching in the Defense Association, hanging out with you –those are all things which help me, which heal me. Do you think I'm bad for forgetting Sirius sometimes?" Harry looked up at Luna, his eyes wide and scared.

Luna knelt down beside Harry and took his hand. When she spoke, her voice was clear and precise and she looked deadly serious.

"I don't forget Mummy, Harry. Sometimes I can't really remember the things she said, or her little habits I knew when I was younger, but I can still _feel_ her." Luna chucked sadly. "Daddy told me, after Mummy had died, that we must stick together in our pain and that it unites us and binds us together in a way that no one else knows. He told me to feel her _here_." Luna pressed her hand to Harry's chest and he felt goosebumps go all the way up his spine. "Mummy always said that we feel with our whole chest, not just our heart and Daddy said that she would want to be part of my feelings. It was always Mummy's wish to know what we felt."

"Thank you, Luna." Harry stared hard at Luna and they paused for a very long time. Luna tilted her head to the side.

"Well?" Luna smiled widely.

Harry closed his eyes and inhaled. He could smell the Infirmary all around him but there was that musty smell which accompanied any Hogwarts student and he squeezed Luna's hand and leant in. Luna met him halfway, her lips just touching his. Harry let out his breath and felt Luna taking shaky ones. His eyes still closed, Harry leant in further and almost knocked his nose against Luna's, but he felt her doing the same. They kissed softly and gently, Harry's hand holding Luna's tight and the other one finding her shoulders. When they ran out of breath, they pulled apart and looked at each other for a long while.

"Does that mean we're more than friends now, Harry Potter?" Luna looked a bit shell-shocked but her eyes were dancing and her smile was too big for her face.

"I don't know what it means, but if it means getting closer to you and doing that again," Harry was breathing heavily, "Then of course."

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe it. What on earth possessed you?" Hermione admonished Harry. Ron's eyes were closed and his head lolled back against the chair.<p>

"Does that mean that you and Loony Lovegood are officially a couple?" Ron sounded tired.

"Don't call her that! Her name is Luna." Harry said rather dreamily, still thinking about Luna's eyes and Luna's face and Luna's hand and everything related to Luna Lovegood. He remembered that special smile she had given him when she had left and he smiled widely.

"Shut up, Ron." Hermione glared at him. "Do you know how odd this is? Of all people, you fall for Luna! I mean...I know she's got a pretty incredible personality, but...I mean. Okay, what else did you do?"

"Well, we just…kissed." Harry looked bemused. Rolling her eyes and looking back at Ron in an exasperated fashion, Hermione sighed.

"You kissed her. What's Ginny going to say?"

"I don't know. All I know is that it was brilliant."

"Urgh, why is it that boys are _so uncommunicative_?" Hermione glared fiercely at Ron, who put up his hands defensively.

"I don't know why you're looking at me, I haven't done a thing! Look at him!"

"I _don't know_, Hermione! I've started to notice Luna a lot more than I used to, and then notice more…well…_girlish_ things about her and I started thinking more and more, and then we were looking at each other and it…happened."

"Is she a good kisser?" Ron finally decided to join in on the conversation and leant forwards in his chair.

"What's a good kisser like? I've never kissed another girl before." Harry thought for a bit. "I suppose we both liked it so, yes, she is a good kisser."

"Who would've thought it?" Hermione mused. "This is going to be the match of the year…and I'm going to warn you now, Harry, Malfoy's going to be after you for this."

"Why Malfoy?" Harry and Ron asked together.

"Why, don't you know? All the girls know." Hermione looked at her friends in surprise.

"You mayn't have noticed, 'Mione, but we're boys and we don't 'gossip'." Ron pointed out obviously.

"Malfoy's father's been looking for influence over _The Quibbler_ for a very long time and Malfoy has been asked to shadow Luna so that he somehow finds a way to gain influence over it. The girls gossip that he could have feelings for Luna, but that's so unbelievable -he's going to be furious you're together with her because you're just going to take care of her and make sure he doesn't follow her."

"Moving on," Harry spoke a bit louder, "Dumbledore spoke to me the other day."

"Yesterday, you mean?" Hermione immediately became serious, but frowned at the change of subject. Harry knew that she had only postponed this for a while and that she would be talking to him later.

"He wants me to learn more about Voldemort. He's going to send me a message some time so that I can meet up with him and learn more."

"This is incredible, Harry! This is so important, you've no idea how much!" Hermione tapped her knee in excitement. "It's vital to know your enemy, and Voldemort is such a powerful enemy to get to know."

"Yeah, but in addition to Quidditch practice –by the way you need to organise the practices, it's a lot to take on." Ron looked concerned.

"It's okay, I'm on such a high right now I feel like I could do anything."

* * *

><p>After being let out from the Infirmary, Harry slowly made his way to his room. When he reached it, he collapsed onto his bed and pulled out a sheet of paper with the names of the Quidditch team.<p>

_Gryffindor Quidditch Team _

_**Chaser: **__Katie Bell_

_**Chaser: **__Demelza Robins_

_**Chaser: **__Ginny Weasley_

_**Beater:**__ Jimmy Peakes_

_**Beater: **__Ritchie Coote_

_**Keeper:**__ Ron Weasley_

_**Seeker (C):**__ Harry Potter_

_Reserves_

_**Chaser:**__ Dean Thomas_

_**Keeper:**__ Cormac McLaggen_

It was quite a strong team, but he knew what Ron meant. It was a lot to take on, including his responsibility on the DA and Dumbledore's meetings. He threw his head back against his bed. He couldn't give up Quidditch; it was what kept him going sometimes. It was so important to keep doing what his father had done –it was a link to something extremely special to him. He sighed and pulled out another sheet of paper.

_Tomorrow evening at 6:45 until 8:00 Quidditch Practice for Gryffindor Team. It's Friday tomorrow so no excuses, guys. The pitch has been taken for this period of time –Harry Potter_

He made his way down to the Common Room and pinned it up onto the News Board. Within seconds there was a crowd of people around it. He was about to leave the Common Room to find Luna when Ginny tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi Harry!" Ginny smiled brightly at him. Harry smiled back, unsure of how to act.

"Hey."

"I can't make practice tomorrow, I'm so sorry."

"Why?"

"Because Charlie's over from Romania and McGonagall's letting me go out for the evening."

Harry ran a hand through his hair angrily.

"Does that mean Ron's going out as well?" He knew practice couldn't go on without their Keeper and he didn't want to face McLaggen being a Keeper and directly disobeying him.

"Nope, he and Charlie were never very close, he was closer to Bill, so he wasn't too eager to see him." At this, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"You better be there for the next practice, we can't afford to lose against Slytherin this year, got it?" Harry had got to the portrait hole and was opening it when he realised that Ginny was still with him. "Are you coming with me?"

"Why not? I'm on my way to a library to get a book about Herbology, so I thought I'd come with you."

Ginny talked all the way to the library, oblivious of the tension next to her. When they reached it, Harry looked around and spotted Luna sitting at a table on her own, reading a book on Care of Magical Creatures. He brightened instantly, and made his way over to her. When he was almost next to her, he hid behind a bookshelf and crept up to her. He tapped her on her shoulder and she jumped violently in her seat, but didn't make a sound. She whirled around, her wand drawn instead.

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were someone like McLaggen." Luna sighed in relief, still a bit shaken from her fright. Ginny, who had been overlooking the scene, raised an eyebrow in confusion at their familiarity. She knew they ran the DA together, but she wouldn't have thought that that made them as close as they were acting.

Harry leant down and kissed her softly –a small peck, but it managed to make Ginny gasp in surprise.

"You and Luna are going out?" she asked, coming over and looking at them. Harry put his hands on Luna's shoulders and she leant against him. The easy relationship between them made the girlish side of Ginny coo, but the more practical side of her wanted to know how and why.

"Why? Why you and Luna?"

Luna glanced at Harry and Harry glanced at Luna.

"I'm not sure what happened. I think I realised that Luna was there."

Ginny looked annoyed.

"This is so unexpected. Of all people, you fall from Luna." Harry didn't quite understand the undercurrent he was getting from Ginny's words.

"Ginevra, it's not your issue to worry about. I still like you and Harry does as well. I'm not trying to replace you." Luna leant forward and touched Ginny's hand. "You made me feel like I had friends and that's wonderful. I don't ever leave people behind."

"No," Harry smiled. "You take them with you in a blaze of glory."

Ginny sat down on another chair and tapped Luna's hand in return.

"Remember that I'm still here. Boys can be such idiots sometimes, you can let off steam through me."

"Thank you, Ginevra. That's why friends are important, and that's why I love having them. They make me feel warmer than any bowl of Plimpy soup could ever do."

Harry and Luna stared at each other for a bit, and therefore missed the angry look that crossed Ginny's face. She wasn't going to let this slip through her fingers that easily. Luna had to know that she didn't give up without a fight.

_A/N: I know it's short, but I've got a big exam coming up on Tuesday, so my next two updates aren't going to be great. I'm also having a bit of a writer's block, so I'm going to be posting another fic, with a series of one-shots showing Harry in various pairings. _

_I've changed this from my original chapter, due the fact that there was a comment that Hermione is a bit OOC and that Ginny is also a bit OOC. I get that, and I read it over and decided that if I'm going to kill Voldemort in this fic then I might as well add a bit of sideline drama. I hope that this is better than it was..._

_Thank you to those who have kept reading! Please review…always appreciated…_

_Hpjkrowling4ever_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hi guys, I'm really sorry for the short chapter (well, shorter than the other ones) but I've been really busy with exams this week. However, I felt that you deserved an update and I didn't want to disappoint you…so here it is._

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Six

_Dear Harry,_

_Please would you come to my office in ten minutes? I promise that you will be in time for your Quidditch practice. I will have some Raspberry Sherbets ready for you._

_Yours,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione tilted her head to the side and studied the note. She checked the time: 5:50pm.

"Well?" Ron asked. "What do you make of it?"

"_Obviously_ it's important and you're going to have to go. Raspberry Sherbets is his password to get into his office."

"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, just as if Hermione had done something incredible worth praising. Harry glanced at his friend, whose ears turned red. Turning back to Hermione, he said,

"You think it's about what he talked to me about in the Infirmary?"

"I would have thought it was about that." Hermione's eyes pierced into Harry's. "Unless you've been up to something I don't know about and you should be telling me. Anything?"

Harry shook his head.

"I suppose it that then." He stood up reluctantly. "I'll tell you guys all about it."

Hermione smiled encouragingly at him and he smiled back. As he went through the portrait hole, Hermione turned to Ron.

"You sure he hasn't been doing anything bad?"

/

Professor Dumbledore's office was full of whirring, purring instruments, and the soft chatter of the many Heads of Hogwarts. Harry crept softly into the peaceful atmosphere, unwilling to disturb what he felt was something important. Catching sight of Fawkes, Harry tilted his head in respect. Fawkes trilled back, and Professor Dumbledore seemed to materialise by his desk.

"Harry, my boy!" Professor Dumbledore smiled widely and opened his arms in greeting. "I'm delighted to see you here. Lemon drop?"

Harry shook his head politely.

"What a shame, I'm quite fond of them myself." Professor Dumbledore ate one to prove his point. "Please sit down, we've got quite a lot to get through in a relatively short time."

Harry walked gingerly up to the platform where the Headmaster's desk was and sat down slowly on one of the chairs. Professor Dumbledore did not sit down and instead started pacing up and down. His face became serious and he was silent for a long time before he spoke. When he did, his voice was firm and strong, quite unlike the jolly, jovial voice Harry was used to.

"What I say here does not leave this room. Do you understand?"

"May I tell my close friends?" Harry asked nervously, unsure of how to act around this new Professor Dumbledore.

"They must swear an oath never to tell another soul of what goes on here." Harry nodded his head vigorously in consent. "What I will tell you today is just an overview of what we will be doing throughout this term, and hopefully the next."

Professor Dumbledore paused in his pacing and looked intently at Harry over his half-moon glasses.

"Tom Riddle. You know that name, don't you?" Harry nodded, a vivid image of the teenager holding his wand and rearranging the letters in his name to form 'Lord Voldemort' flashing through his mind and making him shiver. "He was a brilliant student, well-known for his excellence across the board in all subjects, his good looks, his kindness to his teachers and fellow students –but he was a very prejudiced boy and refused to accept that his parents didn't love each other and that his father had been Muggleborn.

"Tom hated his name –it was so simple, so _normal_, so _common_. Above all, I think, Tom hated being normal or common –he wanted to stand out. That's why he refused to let his friends call him by his first name, but by his last name Riddle, or even for close friends, Marvolo for his second name. They were unusual names no one had really heard of before, and Tom liked that. Then again, his friends were more his followers than anything, and they hung onto every word he said. I think he resented me for calling him Tom, because I wasn't obeying him." Professor Dumbledore sighed and looked very, very old all of a sudden. "I was too fond of Tom, though, to notice his mistakes, his shortcomings. I never realised just how bad it had gotten until his sixth year. I heard his friends being called 'Death Eaters' by the other students, and he took on the name Voldemort.

"Even now, I think I should have noticed. I was the teacher who spent the most time with Tom and who talked to him the most. He was an orphan, you see, and I rescued him from his orphanage and took him to Hogwarts. He was independent –he wanted to go to Diagon Alley himself. The other children at the orphanage feared him. To use his own words when describing his magic: **I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.**" Professor Dumbledore looked at Harry, who was staring at his in horrified fascination. "Even young, Voldemort was violent, always searching for power. I suppose he really achieved it during his sixth and seventh years. It was horrid. They bullied Muggleborn students at the school; they bullied Hagrid or anyone with creature blood of any sort. I should have noticed."

Professor Dumbledore sat down heavily, looking the most vulnerable Harry had every seen him be. Harry wanted to reach out to him, but this was his Headmaster and that would not be appropriate. Instead, he tried to smile reassuringly.

"This is all I can tell you for today. Just so that you know a bit about what I will be doing with you later on." Professor Dumbledore waved Harry away silently.

As he left the office, Harry turned around and saw his Headmaster with his head in his hands, and his half-moon glasses hanging off one finger.

There was something so very childlike about the worn-out Professor, which made tears spring to Harry's eyes. The closing of the door behind him felt very final and it was with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding that Harry left to go to his Quidditch practice.

_A/N: I'm very, very sorry for the length of the chapter. I know it's ridiculously short –in fact it's the shortest of the lot! And that's saying something, as my chapters aren't that long anyway. Thank you for the reviews; they're much appreciated especially in this time of exams. I've got my other series of one-shots up on my profile. They're quite sweet and fluffy and maybe not that good, but if you want to read something else while you're looking for another fic, go ahead!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Here's my next chapter a bit early, I admit but all the same I really felt like updating. Because this chapter is early, it won't really advance the plot much as it is a spur-of-the-moment decision to put it up. _

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Seven

Harry raced along the darkened corridors, urgency and fear lending him speed. His Quidditch robes flew behind him in a manner similar to Severus Snape, and late-evening wanderers flattened themselves against the walls, at the same time wondering what was wrong with Harry Potter. His breath came out in short pants and he had long ago dropped his broom –for the life of him he couldn't remember where.

As he reached the seventh floor corridor, he finally started to slow down but his sense of urgency didn't leave him. Instead, it only heightened when he saw the figure leaning against the wall, rocking back and forth, the shadows rising and falling and distorting around her.

"Luna!" Harry collapsed next to her and took her icy hands in his. She didn't seem to recognise him, which scared him more than anything ever could. "Luna please, it's Harry." He moved to touch her face, but she flinched away from him, and that movement further twisted the icy dagger of fear into Harry's heart.

She was sobbing violently, her shoulders convulsing and her breaths forming an icy cloud in front of her, despite the warm torches lighting up the corridor. Harry took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. Helping her up, he led her over to the tapestry leading to the Room of Requirement and wished a comfortable, warm room to open.

The room that was given to them was filled with warm light and heat emanated from the walls. A comfortable, plush sofa sat in front of the fire and Harry led Luna over to it.

"Dear Merlin, Luna what happened to you? Who did this to you?"

She shook her head and curled up on the sofa, wrapping Harry's coat around her even further, using it as a shield. Harry felt lost and he had no idea what to do. It was only Hermione, frantically racing into Gryffindor's Quidditch practice and alerting Harry to something being wrong with Luna that he was here at all. What had made Luna, who managed to shoulder all the dislike and suspicion she got from their year mates, go this far?

Harry sat next to her and pulled her onto his lap. She allowed him this and curled up like a wounded dog on him and sobbed into his shoulder. He stroked her long hair and kissed her forehead, offering her anything. Dear Merlin, Harry thought, anything to stop Luna being like this, anything.

Slowly but surely Luna's crying subsided into small hiccups of sadness until there were none left. Harry thanked Hermione's intelligence and pulled a flask of water from his belt –after a severe drought last term, Hermione had asked McGonagall to make all of the Quidditch team carry water flasks on them all the time. He gave the water to Luna, who drank it thankfully.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" Harry asked, anger bubbling up in him. He had never heard Luna say sorry and something was obviously terribly wrong.

"Doing this." She waved at him. "Took you out of Quidditch."

"To you think Quidditch holds any place in me compared to you? No, Luna, Quidditch is meaningless to me if you're unhappy and you need me more." Harry placed another kiss to her forehead and stroked her hair further.

"Thank you." Luna's red, tear-stained eyes looked at him in gratitude and Harry kissed the bridge of her nose.

"What happened?"

Luna's breath hitched again, and immediately Harry grabbed her hands and squeezed them.

"I-I was c-coming back from the Astronomy Tower, and I heard Lavender and Parvati talking."

"You know not to listen to a word those two say!" Harry said viciously.

"I don't normally, but this one…" Luna took a deep breath. "They were talking about Ginny. How she'd always liked you more than simply as her brother's best friend." Luna looked up at Harry. "They said that she liked you like you like me."

Harry couldn't say anything, but squeezed Luna's hands again.

"What else did they say?"

"They started saying how they had heard that you were with me. And they were surprised. They said that I was nothing compared to Ginny –that I was odd, _unnatural_. That I should be locked up and that you were only with me for pity."

"No!" Harry stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "God, never! Luna, do you think…do you _really_ think that? I would never Lord…Merlin Luna, did you? Do you?"

Luna looked carefully at Harry.

"No, I know when you tell the truth. You know when to pity and when to love, as surely as a flame. I trust you." Luna turned her head away from Harry. "It was not that which made me…which…you know. It was that Ginny had told them this. That she had said that."

Tears sprung to Luna's eyes again and snaked down her face. Harry's eyes widened in shock briefly, before he pulled her into his arms and they fell onto the carpet in front of the fire. He clutched Luna to him and she held him tightly, tears pouring silently down her face.

"I thought that she was my friend. What did I do wrong?"

"_Nothing_." Harry whispered fiercely. "You burned too brightly and flew too high for her to reach and she was jealous."

Luna's head fell into the crook of Harry's shoulder and soon, he felt her breathing steadily next to him. His hand stroked through the strands of her hair, and he marveled at the fact that she trusted him enough to fall asleep next to him. His eyes stayed on Luna's face and behind the warm glow at her trust, an anger burned deep and steadily and he knew that the explosion would be huge and catastrophic.

* * *

><p>"Where were you?" Hermione asked. "I found your broom outside the DADA classrooms and I took it to the broom sheds. You've been avoiding us since yesterday evening. How was Luna?"<p>

She stopped when Harry turned around and faced her. His eyes were sparking furiously and he looked murderous. Obviously what Luna had told him had shaken him up badly. She grabbed Harry's hand and led him to his dorm, where he collapsed on his bed, still in his Quidditch gear.

"I would dearly love to kill Ginny Weasley." His voice was flat, but vibrated with an energy Hermione knew was deadly. She had seen it at work before –chasing after Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries. She had seen the fire stoked and knew the consequences of lighting it.

"What happened?" Hermione hid the fear in her voice remarkably well, she thought.

"Ginny," Harry spat her name, and stood up, like if the violent energy burning inside him could not be contained. "She has been spreading rumours about Luna. Rumours Luna heard."

Hermione put her hand to her mouth. Harry pulled off his shirt, revealing his stomach, which was taught with tension. If Hermione had had any desire to, she would have admired the toned, muscular chest, but she was more worried for Harry's state of mind.

"Do you _have any idea_ how much Luna values her friends? She loves them with the entirety of her heart. They are stars in her life and there is not much she would stop at for them. We are _lucky_, Hermione, so very, very lucky to be accepted into that part of Luna's life. She is someone special, someone we cannot hope to understand and just being allowed to be her friends is a gift." Harry's voice was filled with passion, and Hermione found herself nodding along. "Dear Merlin, can you _imagine_ the sense of utter despair and desolation she must have felt when she heard what Ginny had been saying? All in about a day!"

Hermione stood up and gave Harry a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder, and she could feel the tension, coiled underneath his body, ready to lash out like a snake. She knew that there was no stopping him, and she sighed in defeat.

"Luna is lucky too, Harry, to have someone who will defend her as viciously as you are. I can't do anything, Harry."

Harry looked at Hermione pleadingly.

"What should I do? God, Hermione, I have never believed in a higher power until now and I wish that something would happen to strike Ginny dead on her feet. How could she?"

"I don't know and I can't imagine ever knowing."

* * *

><p>Harry spent the rest of the evening with Luna in the Room of Requirement. He never stopped listening to what she had to say and gazed at her in admiration. His hand was always near, either holding hers or combing through her hair. And Luna found solace in Harry's kindness and Harry's patience.<p>

Harry knew, though, that his patience wasn't about to last. Ginny did not know what she had coming.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Here's Chapter Eight…wow, it's a lot longer than I expected it to be and it's going to be quite a bit longer than this. Please review –constructive criticism would be much appreciated or just a simple review would be super. Thanks for sticking it so long._

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Eight

Ginny was sure that something was wrong with Harry and Luna. Harry had been polite at most around her, but had not shown any of his previous warmth towards her. Luna had been ignoring her quite pointedly and had only talked to her when she had to. After a week of this behaviour, Ginny took to the corridors of Hogwarts to find Luna.

"Hey, Luna?" she cried, spotting the pale-haired girl in the corridor. Luna whirled around, and caught sight of Ginny running towards her. She sighed and stopped to wait for the redheaded girl to reach her. "Luna! Please can I talk to you?"

Luna started walking once Ginny had reached her.

"You already are, Ginevra. Follow me and we can talk elsewhere."

Ginny knew that following Luna was giving her the lead in this odd confrontation but decided to go along with her. Thank Merlin she was actually allowing Ginny to talk to her. It was probably Luna in one of her moods, anyway.

They stopped at the Astronomy Tower, and entered the classroom, which was eerily empty and dark. The instruments in the Tower glinted mysteriously and Ginny shivered and moved closer to Luna, who seemed perfectly comfortable. Suddenly, a bright light was shone into Ginny's face and she jumped back.

"Luna! What the hell?"

"How bright is it, Ginevra?" Luna asked, waving her lit wand around the Tower. The light reflected off the instruments and shone into Ginny's eyes. "Tell me."

Luna's voice was colder than the metal in the room and is reverberated around Ginny, so perfectly in time with what she was saying that Ginny thought Luna must have rehearsed.

"It's too bright, Luna. Please turn it down. Let's talk sensibly."

"Aren't we talking sensibly already?" There was a hint of madness in Luna's voice Ginny didn't like. "It's too bright, is it? Welcome to my world, Ginevra."

"What?"

"Nothing is dark in my mind. There's always light everywhere and it shines particularly brightly on my friends." Luna paused on the word 'friends', savouring it. "They shine." Luna's wand increased in brightness and she started writing in the air. F. "They spark." R. "They glow." I. "They shimmer." E. "They dazzle." N. "They glimmer." D. "They're special." S.

FRIENDS shone in the air above Ginny, pulsing like a heart with every step Luna took. It was seriously impressive magic, managing to hold the word in the air and Ginny couldn't help but be impressed.

"They are everything to me." Luna said, approaching Ginny again, FRIENDS surrounding her like a halo. "Did you know that, Ginevra, when you told Lavender?"

Ginny sucked in a breath. She hadn't expected Luna to find that out. She had told Lavender, hoping that she would spread it until it reached Harry and he would be so disgusted with her that he would go out with Ginny. She should have known that Lavender wasn't to be trusted.

"Luna, I didn't mean it that way…" Her words trailed off as Luna's wand extinguished itself and then burst into red sparks. One vicious motion of Luna's wand and the word FRIENDS was slashed to pieces that fell around Luna, surrounding her with flakes of the word.

"Harry wanted to hurt you, you know. I didn't know someone who fought for his friends as much as Harry did. I told him not to –this is my battle to fight –"

"It's not a battle!" Ginny cried, backing up as Luna finally reached her. She felt the wall behind her and her eyes focused on Luna's. They were icy cold and showed no promise of forgiveness. Ginny bowed her head and tears fell from her eyes quietly.

"It is. And I think that you wanted to fight it. Well you can keep fighting it as long as you want." Luna looked behind her at the shreds of the words. "It's only you fighting, after all."

Ginny sank to the floor and watched as Luna left, her poise confident and she felt an overwhelming sense of sadness overcome her as she saw the flakes of her friendship disintegrate around her.

* * *

><p>"Hey there." Harry smiled as he saw Luna enter the DADA classroom. "You okay there?"<p>

"Yeah." She came over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Behind Harry, Hermione watched with a soft smile on her face. She had a good idea what Luna had just gone and done, having been there when Luna had asked Harry not to do anything about Ginny.

Ron came up behind Hermione and poked her in the ribs. She gave a cry and jumped around, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow, unimpressed, when she saw it was Ron.

"What was that about?"

"Well," Ron drawled out the word. "I've finished clearing the tables and putting the sheets of paper down. D'you think Harry'll let me leave now?"

"No." said Harry, watching Ron in amusement. "I've got to see Dumbledore this evening so you, Hermione and Luna are in charge of the DA."

"What!" Ron looked gobsmacked. "You're letting _me_ teach younger years?"

"_Obviously_, Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes, "Obviously Harry is relying on Luna and I to teach and you to demonstrate. You're hopeless at teaching."

Ron snorted in agreement.

"You remember that time I set that first year's robe on fire because he couldn't get the spell right?"

"I think I tried to forget it." Hermione remarked dryly, shaking her head.

* * *

><p>Just as he reached Dumbledore's office, Harry felt someone grab his elbow. He turned around to be faced with the rather miserable face of Ginny.<p>

"Harry…" Ginny took a deep breath. "I was in the wrong."

"It's not going to change anything. You hurt Luna quite badly there, you know." Harry let his anger bubble up and Ginny saw his wand in his hand glow red.

"I can't apologise –nothing's going to help, is it?" Ginny sighed, thinking back to a week ago and wishing she hadn't said anything.

Harry looked at her with pity in his eyes and she saw his wand go back to normal.

"You can stay where you are in your little, deluded world, Ginevra Weasley. It's not my place to forgive you, it's Luna's and if she hasn't forgiven you then I can't. I just hate to think that you're Ron's sister and that you could stoop so low."

With that, Harry mumbled the password and entered the Headmaster's office once again.

Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk waiting for Harry. In front of him sat a large stone bowl inscribed with numerous runes. A silver liquid swirled around in it, sending out mysterious shapes across the walls of his office.

"Good evening, Harry. Please sit down."

Harry walked softly over to the Professor's desk, scared to make a sound in case he disturbed the unearthly presence in the room.

"You do know what this is, don't you?"

"It's a Pensieve, Professor. It enables you to look at memories."

"It's extremely powerful magic, Harry. We must be careful when around it."

Harry nodded and looked at the swirling liquid with a sense of foreboding.

"You remember what I told you last time we met?" Harry nodded. "I'll give you an example of what Tom Riddle was like to his friends. Lucius Malfoy generously granted this to me a while back, when he was being tried for crimes as a Death Eater." Harry stood up with Professor Dumbledore, and, taking a deep breath, they plunged into the liquid.

_A classroom in the dungeons, damp with humidity and smelling suspiciously of potions, was lit brightly by a pale green light. In the middle of the classroom sat five boys, all of them looking up at a rather good-looking young man dressed in Hogwarts school robes. His hair fell in an alluring way, and he had a certain way of speaking which was obviously attracting the other boys._

"_Tell me, then, Malfoy," _Harry looked closer at the boy who was being addressed, and was shocked to see that this was the younger Lucius Malfoy. _"What would you do in that situation?"_

_Malfoy looked uncomfortable but spoke anyway, in an upper class accent, pronouncing every one of his words carefully. Every other boy around him stared in excitement, hoping that the young aristocrat would fall._

"_I feel that in such a situation it would be advisable to be four. Each could guard the back of the other."_

_The young man in the middle threw his head back and laughed. It was a rich, throaty laugh filled with an attractive quality and every boy around him laughed, though they looked like they weren't sure why._

"_What an answer, Malfoy," the young man drawled the word, tasting it, savouring it on his lips like if it was a particularly good sweet he didn't want to swallow. "So __diplomatic__, don't you think?"_

"_Make him give a proper answer, Tom!" cried one of the boys. _Harry winced. Knowing what Professor Dumbledore had said previously about how much Lord Voldemort despised his name, Harry could guess that this boy would be in trouble.

_Tom Riddle whirled around to face the boy._

"_Goyle. How delightful." Tom paused and the rather chubby boy paused. The way Tom had pronounced his name made him feel that it was anything but delightful. "Why don't you give us an answer?"_

_There were sniggers from the gathered boys, who all looked at Tom in admiration. _Harry had never seen Lucius Malfoy look so worshipful and almost snorted, but the feelings he was getting from Tom Riddle were enough to stop him.

_Goyle spluttered and mumbled a few words but was unable to form a coherent answer. Tom Riddle pulled out his wand and waved it almost carelessly over his back. A stinging hex hit Goyle flat in the chest and other boys winced. With a cry of pain, Goyle fell off his chair onto the ground. _

"_My name is not Tom. I thought you'd learnt that. Obviously not." Tom stroked the wood on his wand gently, like one would stroke a lover, and held it up to the light. There was a movement of recoil from the surrounding boys, including Malfoy._

"_Marvolo." Tom hummed under his breath. "Tom Marvolo Riddle." He looked around the gathered boys. "What is my name? Do tell me. I'm simply…__dying__ to know."_

"_Lord Voldemort." Whispered one of the boys. "Your name is Lord Voldemort."_

Harry suddenly found himself thrown out of the memory and back into Professor Dumbledore's office. He was shaking, he realised and he sat on his hands to try to stop it.

"Quite something, don't you think?" Professor Dumbledore leant back in his seat. "He was quite something."

"He was quite alluring. I can see how he'd be attractive to those boys."

"Yes, they were boys, weren't they? Not like Tom. Dear, dear Tom. I wonder what caused this." Professor Dumbledore sighed. "You saw how powerful he was? He could sense Goyle and knew his non-verbal spells extremely well. That was part of his power. He always kept them waiting –they never knew what spell he'd throw at them if they disappointed him."

Harry took a shaky breath.

"He's a lot scarier then than he is now."

"I don't think you're right. He's more human there." Professor Dumbledore paused and looked straight at Harry. "I think he's dead now. There's nothing left of Tom in there."

_A/N: Hang on for the next chapter next week (hopefully). I'm travelling away for a month, so you might not get any updates for a while, unfortunately. Hang in there, though! I'll be back after my break. You should get an update next week. As per usual, please review. _


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Hey there! Please continue reviewing, it's much appreciated and keeps me going. Enjoy the next chapter!_

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Nine

Harry sat on the desk, staring hard at the wall with a look of immense concentration on his face. Behind him, Luna, Hermione and Ron were watching him in concern.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hermione asked, ever the voice of reason. Harry nodded but didn't reply. "I mean, it's quite dangerous, considering what Malfoy can do."

"If Harry wants to do something, Harry does it." Ron muttered in a long-suffering voice. Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ron, who shrugged.

"Harry makes his own choices guided by the decisions of others. Do not only blame Harry for what happens in his life," Luna said benignly, her eyes fixed on her boyfriend's back and ignoring the hidden messages passing between Ron and Hermione.

Without warning, Harry whirled around and jumped off the desk, making the trio behind him startle back in surprise. Ron and Hermione hastily broke eye contact.

"He is up to _something_!" Harry cried. "He doesn't just come into a DA meeting, challenge you, Hermione to a duel and with stakes to it –meaning _what will he make you do for losing the duel_?"

"I only lost because he played unfairly." Hermione grumbled, earning herself a glare from Harry. "Okay, it was unusual behaviour for Malfoy."

"Bloody hell, of course it was unusual. You should've been there, Harry! Malfoy just stormed into the DA meeting –mind you, he'd never been before, and then challenged 'Mione-"

"Told you _not_ to call me that, Ron!" Hermione interrupted. Ron ignored her and continued.

"And said that if she lost the duel she'd have to do something for him in return. And _of course_ 'Mione ("Ron, don't call me that!" Hermione huffed.), being 'Mione ("I give up!"), thinks she's _not_ going to lose, _forgetting_ that there's a reason Malfoy would've challenged you on a day Harry wasn't there, and then Malfoy _naturally_ overpowers her and now 'Mione's got to do something for him."

"It was foolish, Hermione!" Harry shouted, walking up to her. Hermione glared furiously at him.

"You wouldn't have refused!" she retorted. "I can't hide in your shadow forever."

"Stop." Luna spoke the word clearly and they all turned to look at her. "Hermione, you are a person of great intelligence and clarity and you are safe in your own limelight. Do understand that Malfoy has planned this all out. Harry, you are being foolish in thinking that you could overpower Malfoy in a duel. He will have planned this." Harry sighed.

"I know, but what else is there to do? I'm certain Malfoy has some huge plan he's trying to put into place. Where does Hermione come into it? What will he make her do?" Unbidden, Tom Riddle's words echoed in Harry's mind **"I can make them hurt if I want to."** He shivered, and felt Luna's hand on his shoulder. Her smiled at her and then turn back to his friends.

"I am _certain_ that Malfoy is doing it for Voldemort." Harry announced, finally voicing his suspicion he had been having all along. He felt Luna's hand clench his shoulder hard and heard Ron take a deep breath. Hermione raised an eyebrow skeptically, remembering in her mind the last time Harry had suspected something.

"Just because Malfoy has beaten me in a duel and is asking me to do something doesn't mean that he's a Death Eater, Harry. Though I'm flattered you think so highly of my duelling powers."

Harry shrugged Luna's hand off and started pacing.

"I'm missing something, Hermione. There has got to be another, higher motive for Malfoy challenging you. He's never gone that far before and challenged you. It's always been a feud against me and you and Ron were unwittingly caught in it because of me. I _know_, Ron that your family and the Malfoys have some feud going on throughout the generations but trust me! There's something going on and it's not Malfoy's plan, it's someone else's. Malfoy just isn't clever enough to go beyond a childish rivalry."

"_Thank you_!" Hermione waved her hand at Harry. "Finally you realise it was a childish rivalry."

"Malfoy's dad always told him what to do and Malfoy's dad is under the jurisdiction of Voldemort. We've got to find Malfoy and try and seek him out. I know I'm right."

"I'm not going with him. Nuh uh." Ron shook his head vigorously. "Sorry, mate, but because of one of your 'hunches', Sirius died."

There was an icy silence. Harry stopped dead in the middle of his pacing and Hermione put her hand to her mouth. Sirius had been taboo. Even Luna, who had tried many times to make Harry feel better, had never voiced Sirius fully. Something clenched deep in Harry's heart and it started beating faster, more irregularly. A ball of emotion became clogged in his throat and he turned around slowly, carefully to face Ron, who had gone white as he realised what he had said.

"How dare you." Harry said softly. "How dare you."

"I-I didn't mean it that way, mate. I'm-I'm sorry. I-I was there as-as well. Harry, please!"

As quick as a snake, Harry was pushing Ron against the wall, his wand pressed into his friend's throat. Hermione cried out.

"Don't you _dare_ blame me for Sirius' death. Do you not think I blame myself everyday for it already?" Harry let go of Ron, who dropped to the floor, gasping. Harry lifted his wand to cast a spell on Ron.

"Harry!" Luna shouted. "Stop! Ronald is correct. We cannot do anything based on feelings. We need more proof."

Almost mad with the thought of Sirius, Harry turned violently towards Luna.

"Proof! We need proof, you say!"

Luna stiffened, but powered on, remembering in the dark recesses of her bright mind the things her father had done in the wake of her mother's death. It had been a horrific experience for her, who needed some parental love so badly, and she pulled up the courage from there to not take offence at Harry's words.

"Sirius' death was incredibly sad." Luna paused. "We were all there, Harry. We all remember what happened. And the veil?" Harry nodded sharply. "You heard the voices?" Harry nodded again. "That was the people you love who've died, Harry. **They were just lurking out of sight, that's all, you heard them. **They're not dead, they're with us always."

"**The ones who love us never truly leave us**." Harry muttered, remembering the words. Luna walked towards him and put her hand on his heart. Harry's fingers wrapped around Luna's small, delicate hand.

They stared at each other for a very long time, but no one spoke. Ron's breath had stilled, and he looked up at them from the floor. Hermione's hand had dropped to her side and she was looking intently at the couple, watching how Luna had brought Harry down from his anger.

"Sorry." Harry murmured, his head tilting to the side, and his hands moving to cradle Luna's face. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. It was not a kiss of passion, but a slow, gentle one, which made Hermione's eyes prick with tears and made Ron sneak a surreptitious look at Hermione. Harry pulled away and Luna pulled herself closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Harry." Luna grinned, her bright eyes making Harry's eyes sparkle again. She felt her boyfriend's heart beating underneath her and she knew that as long as it was pumping regularly, Harry would be alright.

"Erm." Ron coughed awkwardly. Harry whirled around and then smiled at Ron's terrified face.

"It's okay. You were right to remind me what happened last time I made rash decisions." Ron sighed in relief. "What we need to do this time is be careful. Hermione, anything Malfoy tells you, you tell me. Ron and Luna, I'm relying on you guys to collect any information you hear about him."

"What'll you do?" Ron asked, curious to know how Harry would try and prove his theory.

"I'm going to talk to some Slytherins."

_A/N: Okay, I know it's not very good this week. Please review to keep me going! _


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hey there! I'm so sorry I didn't update for a while, one of my relatives just died so I had to go for their funeral. So here's your Christmas update (unfortunately it has nothing to do with Christmas as we're about three weeks into term so the Christmassy chapters should be happening at the least Christmassy bits!) and your New Year's update! HAPPY 2015 everyone!_

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Ten

Furiously brushing his hair away from his eyes, Harry looked harder at the Potions textbook in front of him, all the while glancing across the rows at Blaise Zabini, the inconspicuous Slytherin wreathed with rumours. He would be the easiest Slytherin to talk to, if only he managed to catch him on time.

Professor Slughorn was at the back of the class, talking to some unlucky Gryffindor, probably Neville, who had gained the reputation as Hogwarts' worst potioneer. Harry folded up his instructions, to the horrified glance of Hermione, wrote his note to Zabini, muttered a useful charm, which transfigured it into a pen and then muttered Zabini's name. The transfigured piece of paper zipped over to Zabini, who glanced at it in surprise and shock before picking it up. It immediately transfigured back into a note, and Zabini hid it in his textbook as Slughorn turned to the front of the class again.

"Right, everyone, another five minutes and we'll see who succeeded in making their potions."

Harry glanced ruefully and Ron and then at his potion, which resembled thick black goop, not the black-and-silver shiny substance it was supposed to be. Hermione's was too silver but they both knew that Slughorn would be quite satisfied and that she or Malfoy would as per usual have the best potions. Glancing back at Zabini, Harry saw him give a sidelong glance towards him and give a short, curt nod. Smiling, Harry turned back to his potion to try to salvage what he possibly could in the next four minutes.

* * *

><p>"You better have a damn good reason for bringing me here, Potter." Blaise Zabini stood, haughty and elegant in his tailored robes, and looked incredibly sophisticated surrounded by the shining lights of the Trophy Room.<p>

"I do, actually, Zabini. I want to know what Malfoy's planning."

"I wasn't aware you had any interest in Malfoy, Potter. Last time I checked you two were trying to get as far away from each other as possible." Zabini sneered at Harry, who sighed. Even Zabini's sneer was polished and perfect.

"I would like to know why Malfoy challenged Hermione to a duel."

"Blunt, aren't we, Potter?" Zabini sat down on a chair, every single one of his movements graceful and made to look purposeful. Harry was starting to feel like Zabini was turning the tables and turning the interrogation to his advantage.

"Answer me, Zabini, and we can forget all about this encounter."

"On the contrary, being _summoned_ by the Chosen One, it's such an honour. Why would I _ever_ forget this encounter?" A raised eyebrow in Harry's direction accompanied Zabini's sarcastic comment.

"Zabini, you and I both know who Malfoy is and what power lies behind him. I don't know if you're part of the Death Eater to be circles –somehow I doubt you are. You're the most inconspicuous Slytherin I've ever met in my life, and no one knows much about you. You're part of the same social circles as Malfoy but I've never in my life seen you talk to him. I'm not here to waste my time with pleasantries, Zabini, and you've got better stuff to do than to be talking to be, I know that. Let's cut the chase and I'd appreciate it if you answered my question."

"Ah, but Potter, see here. You want this information, which you think I have. To get this, you're going to have to answer my questions. Fair deal, don't you think?"

Harry ground his teeth but summoned a chair and sat down facing Zabini, who flashed him a triumphant smile.

"I _knew_ you'd come round to see my way, Potter. Do tell me how your charming girlfriend is doing nowadays."

"Luna is fine, thank you, Zabini." Harry glared furiously at the Slytherin, who now had complete mastery of the interrogation.

"I gather you've heard of Malfoy's…ah…how do you put it? Orders concerning Lovegood?"

"Yes, thank you, Zabini, I have."

"Good, good." Zabini paused. "Why did you choose to _interrogate_ me in particular Potter?"

Harry was perfectly polite.

"I thought I had told you."

"Please do repeat yourself."

"I know next to nothing about you, Zabini, except that you have a number of stepfathers-" Harry cut himself off and grinned widely and the disgruntled-looking Slytherin, "And for a Slytherin, you stay remarkably out of sight."

"Not all Slytherins are interested in you, Potter. I do hope you are aware of this." Zabini sneered again, his aristocratic face lifted up and the snub was clear.

"That is _exactly_ why I am interested in you. Not for selfish reasons, Zabini. I would much rather the whole world didn't take a breath every time I decided to walk down to Hogsmeade." Harry himself sneered at the thought of reporters, and a look of surprise crossed Zabini's face. Harry spotted it. "I am human, Zabini. And for my flaws and my mistakes to be painted into a much larger picture by the press is not very desirable. I do not like my fame, though admittedly it does get me to places. No, the reason I wanted to talk to you is because you have never taken part in Malfoy's Harry-baiting exercises. You have never deigned to glance at me or talk to me and this is what makes you, in my eyes at least, neutral territory."

Zabini moved on his chair and suddenly he was leaning forward, looking interested and for once, not detached.

"The press are cruel, aren't they, Potter? They take a simple sentence, twist it, gouge it and squeeze all of the life out of it and turn it into a monster." Zabini stood up and walked over to Harry, who looked up in immense surprise. "I apologise for my lack of manners. My name is Blaise Zabini, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Having a small grasp on pureblood manners due to a lecture from Hermione, Harry stood up and took Zabini's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine. My name is Harry Potter, pleased to make your acquaintance. You may call me Harry."

"You may call me Blaise." He grinned at Harry and Harry was shocked to see how his eyes lit up and how he changed completely from an aloof, aristocratic teenager to a good-looking, smiling young man. "My mother and I have been ripped apart too many times by the press for us not to feel some compassion for someone who has the same plight."

"You are quick to trust, Blaise." The name felt unfamiliar on Harry's lips –after having the same friends for so long, Harry was unused to making new ones. It was a nice feeling, but the thought that Blaise was a Slytherin lurked at the back of his mind.

"I am not." He looked mildly offended, and pulled his chair closer to Harry's. They both sat down. "I do not trust Malfoy, for example, or most of my dorm mates. I sleep with wards around my bed and on all my things. I would trust no one in Slytherin with anything of mine, however small. You, however, were willing to trust me with whatever information on Malfoy I had –and anyone Rita Skeeter lays her dirty fingernails on is worth my trust. What was it you wanted to know about Malfoy?"

"Why he duelled with Hermione."

Blaise leant back in his seat and took a deep breath.

"These are dark times, Harry. Dark times, and Slytherin is in the darkest of them all. Malfoy rules Slytherin with an iron fist and he squeezes anyone who dares to oppose Slytherin's darkness. However, recently, Malfoy has not been updating his powerful leadership and I realised that something was wrong. He became obsessed with Hogwarts' history, all the secret places it has and sometimes disappears for hours and hours on end and doesn't come to the dormitory until past midnight –his cronies covering for his absence and all of the others too scared to report it." Blaise sighed. "Then one day he came into the Common Room, which was more lively than it had ever been before because Malfoy was lowering his vigilance, and he announced to everyone that he was going to take on Granger in a duel and that he was going to beat her." Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Blaise chuckled, a deep, rich sound. "Don't be alarmed, Malfoy does things like that all the time. This one, however, seemed quite harebrained and I followed Malfoy out. I asked him what in Merlin's name he was thinking.

"_Are you an idiot or are you just being foolish?" Blaise chased after Malfoy, whose robes were billowing around him in a fair imitation of Professor Snape. Crabbe and Goyle started to block Blaise's path, but Malfoy flicked a finger and they moved aside. Blaise started walking next to Malfoy. "Answer me! Are you mad, chasing after Granger with a half-baked plan?"_

"_With all due respects, Heir Zabini," Malfoy referred to Blaise in the politest, stiffest pureblooded address. He barely deigned to glance at Blaise –after all, in the pecking order; Blaise was only part of the Most Noble House of Zabini, not the Ancient and Most Noble House of Zabini. "What I do is no concern of yours."_

_Blaise, realising that he was being snubbed, reverted to his pureblood manners. He matched Malfoy's stride perfectly, and his perfectly tailored robes billowed around him just as Malfoy's were doing. Blaise knew that socially his line was not as ancient as Malfoy's, but that in the Slytherin pecking order, Blaise had fought for his place as second-in-command viciously. It granted him certain immunity without having to have anything to do with Malfoy._

"_Heir Malfoy, acting with your House's welfare in order, I was wondering if I may inquire upon the nature of your plans concerning your upcoming challenge to Miss Granger?"  
><em>

"_She is a mudblood and does not deserve to have any title attached to her name. I expected better of you, Heir Zabini." Malfoy deigned to glance in distaste at Blaise, who swallowed and made an effort to grovel further, however much he despised it._

"_My most sincerest apologies go towards you for my mishap, Heir Malfoy. It was a slip of the tongue, having just had a conversation with the half-blood Miss Yioryean in the Common Room."_

_Malfoy did not look convinced, but Blaise's argument was sound and one Malfoy had used before, and therefore he could not fault it. He knew that Blaise had the upper hand now, and he despised that. Blaise was a master manipulator and the brains of Slytherin. No one challenged Blaise to a verbal battle except Malfoy, who always lost but in the most polite way that nobody could possibly fault Blaise._

"_Your question is intrusive." Blaise mumbled his apologies again, but did not move back a few inches from beside Malfoy's side, as it was polite to do in pureblood society –to walk a few inches behind someone of higher rank. "However, I cannot fault you for caring sincerely about the welfare of the House, which I hold in the deepest and most immense regards. The Mudblood, Granger, is close enough to that Half-Blood, Potter, who is on close terms with the Lovegood Heir, Luna. Heir Lovegood is the object of my most gracious and honourable Father's attentions. The Quibbler is a valuable, yet trashy, magazine necessary to advance the Dark Lord's cause."_

"_The Dark Lord is immensely lucky to have such loyal followers, Heir Malfoy." Blaise loathed the Dark Lord._

"_Therefore, I must ask the Mudblood to give me information on Heir Lovegood's preferences, so that I might send her gifts to try and lure her away from the Half-Blood. This way, I can show Father just how proud he should be of his son and heir and that I am worthy to the Malfoy Fortune and Title."  
><em>

"_You are, Heir Malfoy." Blaise said, smiling and lying through his teeth._

"You can understand what an issue this is going to pose to Granger."

"I'm interested –" Harry looked curiously at Blaise. "You don't seem like that normal Slytherin, obsessed with blood purity and Lord Voldemort."

Blaise gave the perfunctory shiver but otherwise he looked unconcerned.

"My mother taught me the necessary pureblood values to bring me up correctly, don't get me wrong, but she was quite liberal and told me that my instincts will get me to the top, not titles or money. Though Merlin knows I've got enough money." He sighed. "Contrary to popular belief, my mother has not killed all her husbands for their money. Admittedly they were all absurdly rich and my mother has a whole tray of titles at her disposal now." He rose to his feet. "But that is for another time."

Harry rose to his feet and searched for the proper pureblood parting phrase. Blaise chuckled.

"I was impressed at your greeting, but your parting words seem to be lost."

"My apologies, Hermione only taught Ron and I the basics. I must brush up with Luna, who most likely knows them all."

"Hang on to Lovegood, Harry. Malfoy won't stop at a chance to destroy her."

"I plan to."

"It was a pleasure to make your alliance, Mr. Potter. I will enjoy further altercations." Blaise smirked and shook Harry's hand, the latter looking a bit lost.

"Right, thanks. We'll do that then."

Just before leaving the trophy room, Blaise turned to look at Harry again.

"Slytherin's a minefield of traps. Let me navigate you through them."

_A/N: Thank you for putting up with such a long break! I managed to grab some time today to write this, apologies if it's a tad rushed. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone in this chapter, I had to emphasise the pureblood culture. Any questions or criticisms please review but make them constructive as well; I dislike simple criticisms with nothing constructive in them. If you don't like my story, don't review, I will know you didn't like it!_

_I've always been really interested in Blaise Zabini, and I think that Harry's going to need some sort of ally in Slytherin. And I genuinely feel sorry for Slytherin and Hufflepuff. I swear they're always picked on, and for goodness' sake, every house has its characteristics, though Slytherin's is particularly nasty to some._

_As usual, please review, favourite or follow, they're all much appreciated! I'll try and reply to any questions and I enjoy reading what you say._

_hpjkrowling4ever_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hi again, I decided to update again, after I had a sudden idea. Please enjoy._

**Title:** Moondance

**Author:** hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Eleven

Hermione's hand tapped anxiously against the desk, but otherwise she was as still as a rock on her chair. Her face was impassive but her brain buzzed furiously, running through everything she was going to say. Having listened carefully to Luna's impromptu lesson on pureblood manners, Hermione felt herself ready to confront Malfoy.

Just as the bell rang signaling the end of the day's study time, the door flew open and Malfoy stalked in, followed by Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass and Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione tried not to look surprised, and gathered from her meager information on Slytherin that this must be the highest-ranking Slytherins in the house.

Malfoy pulled a chair towards him and sat down. Beside him, Blaise sat down on a chair, ignoring the angry glances he was getting from Malfoy and the other Slytherins, who had pulled out a chair each. Nott sat slightly back and to the side of Blaise and Greengrass sat slightly back and to the side of Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle remained standing behind them.

"If I may address her correctly, Heir Malfoy? Of course with your permission?" Blaise asked. A curt nod was all he received, and seemingly unperturbed, Blaise turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, Heir Malfoy has seen fit to join together the trial judges of Slytherin to put forward their suggestion for your loss of the duel."

Hermione bit her tongue and took a deep breath.

"With all due respect, Heir Malfoy, Heir Zabini, Heir Nott, The Honourable Miss Greengrass, Crabbe, Goyle," Hermione hesitated slightly, having no idea how to address Greengrass thus using Muggle peerage systems, but otherwise succeeding in getting their rank correct. "I do not see why this is any concern of any person here other than Heir Malfoy. None of you came to observe the duel, and it is apparent that as you are all here, you must already have an idea of what Heir Malfoy wishes to ask of me."

The Slytherins apart from Malfoy looked mildly impressed at Hermione's wording and her deductions. Malfoy simply looked quite frustrated, like he usually did in Hermione's presence. She did not know that he found being around her incredibly challenging, for not only had she punched him but also she was a Muggle with a perfect grasp of pureblood traditions and speech, and a very talented witch to boot. She defied every label the aristocratic Malfoy Family had placed on muggle-born witches.

"Heir Malfoy, how do you wish to proceed?" Greengrass asked. She actually quite liked Hermione, having shadowed her on occasion at Malfoy's orders (He made various Slytherin girls shadow her in hope that he would manage to find out Quidditch tactics from Harry) and heard her witty comments towards her friends and wished she had a friendship like Hermione did. Like Malfoy, though, she was confused at Hermione's disarming knowledge and respect of pureblood culture and had often heard her talk to her friends about respecting their culture.

"Granger is in debt to me." Malfoy started. Sitting on her desk, looking quite informal compared to the Slytherins in perfectly tailored robes, Hermione rolled her eyes. "Thus I demand a service from Granger."

Hermione tapped her nails against the desk, a common pureblood gesture that was perfectly polite but demonstrated boredom. Greengrass and Nott looked surprised that she knew it, and Malfoy looked incensed.

"You will defer to me the respect that I am due, _mudblood_, and not ignore my words!"

Hermione stood up gracefully, slowly. Her robes slipped off the desk and she walked quietly towards Malfoy, who had stood up.

"Why, Heir Malfoy, I will defer to you the respect that you are due –of course I will, if you so command it." Behind Malfoy, Blaise smirked.

Hermione took another step forward, looked up and down Malfoy, who was breathing heavily, raised her arm and in a perfect imitation of her third year, swung her fist towards Malfoy's face. Malfoy being too slow to avoid it, Hermione's perfectly aimed punch hit Malfoy in the cheek with a satisfying 'smack!'

"That is the respect you deserve, you prick." She wiped her hand on her robes, took out her wand and lifted it towards Malfoy. "_Stupefy_!"

Malfoy, too surprised to react, crumpled to the floor. Contrary to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle reacted instantly and ran to attack Hermione, but were restrained by Blaise.

"You foolish trolls! Get away from her before she spells you two to the floor as well as Heir Malfoy." Crabbe and Goyle stopped in their tracks at that and recoiled from Hermione, who looked viciously at the other Slytherins.

"Talk to me sensibly and I'll listen."

* * *

><p>While Hermione was defending her honour against Malfoy and his council, Harry and Luna were walking around the Lake, their hands intertwined and their heads close together. Their steps matched each other's perfectly.<p>

"You know," Luna murmured, smiling. "It is said that if you walk long enough with someone at the same pace and same steps, your hearts start beating in tandem."

"I would be honoured to have my heart beat in tandem with yours, Luna." Harry said seriously. Luna chuckled and leant closer to Harry to kiss him. Harry stopped to enjoy the kiss further, and ran his fingers softly through Luna's long hair. She put her hand on his and twirled them together, her hair wrapping around both their hands. They broke apart breathlessly, their chests heaving for air.

"Merlin, it catches me every time." Harry grinned and unraveled his hand form Luna's hair. Luna grinned at him before becoming more serious.

"Harry, why were you and Heir Zabini talking together?"

"You saw us?" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"I heart from Hermione what had transpired." Luna looked dreamy. "Everyone sees something of what happens."

Harry's hand snaked around Luna's waist and he pulled her closer.

"What do you mean?"

"Hermione looked extremely concerned and asked me for some advice on pureblood cultures. She could be a pureblood, the way she took to the advice. However, though I did not know of what Heir Zabini was planning, it disturbed Hermione enough to attract the Wrackspurts –and knowing Hermione that is quite a serious thing."

Harry's breath ghosted over Luna's cheek as he spoke.

"Malfoy has been shadowing you."

"I know." Luna said simply. "Is that all Heir Zabini had to say?"

"Hang on, how do you know?"

It was Luna's turn for her hand to snake around Harry's waist and pull him closer.

"I did. As one does when someone shadows you. The DA taught me to recognise shadowing when it happens." Luna kissed Harry gently. "What else did Heir Zabini say, Harry?"

"Malfoy will ask Hermione to tell him what you like so that he can woo you into agreeing to be with him, or something along those lines."

Luna whirled around and stalked away from Harry, who stood staring at her in confusion. She paced around for a bit before walking back to him.

"There's something there which is different to the simple explanation that he's trying to get power over my dad's magazine. There's something else there and I don't know what it is!"

* * *

><p>Hermione, after locking Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle out of the classroom and the other Slytherins in the classroom, listened carefully to what they had to say.<p>

"Miss Granger, you know you cannot avoid doing what Heir Malfoy wishes you to do." Nott said uncertainly, not quite sure how to act in front of the Muggleborn.

"Malfoy is a piece of scum as far as I am concerned, and I think that I reserve the right to challenge him again to a duel if I don't wish to follow his orders."

Greengrass shifted uncomfortably on her chair.

"We can't discuss the failures of Heir Malfoy, he is the leader of Slytherin."

"I do not care if Malfoy is the Queen of Sheba, Greengrass, he insulted me when he saw that I was trying to make an effort with your ridiculous pureblood cultures. And in case you've failed to notice, I'm in Gryffindor, not Slytherin, thus Malfoy is not my leader."

"Let's all calm down, shall we? Heir Malfoy is not here, and acting as his second-in-command in Slytherin, I reserve the right to make decisions concerning the welfare of our House without Heir Malfoy's consent. I suggest we listen and answer Miss Granger's questions." Nott and Greengrass both nodded and they all turned to look expectantly at Hermione, who coughed.

"Well, though I know exactly what Malfoy has planned due to his boasting of it in the hearing of some select Gryffindors, I revoke his right to order me around on the basis of assault and instead I think it is now my right to ask any question I feel is within your power to answer. Am I correct?"

Greengrass hummed under her breath, whispered something to Nott, who then looked to Blaise, who nodded. Nott stood up.

"According to the Law of Those of Pure Blood made in the year of 1677 under the authorship of Camelopardalis Black, Section Seven _Duelling Rights_ Miss Granger is correct."

"Then I'd like to ask a few preliminary questions before the big one, if I may?" she asked politely.

"Granted, Miss Granger." Blaise said.

"Where do you find these Laws? Do you have to know them off by heart? Are you three, excluding Malfoy, the highest ranking in Slytherin?"

Blaise put up a hand to stop Hermione's flow. Looking sheepish, she quieted down but looked expectantly at them.

"In the Law & Order section in the library you can find a complete copy of these Laws. Yes, we are told to know them off by heart from a young age. It comes in handy when you're trying to turn a situation to your advantage to quote one of the most obscure laws and know that it's true. Anyone in the Wizarding World is subject to these laws, even the highest-ranking Death Eater, because they are the basis for the laws of the Wizarding World. Only the Dark Lord is not subject to these laws as he rules in the guise of an absolute monarch." Blaise paused. "But this is sidetracking –it is what we purebloods have grown up knowing and is of no use to you, no offence intended, unless you end up in court or duelling someone and you wish to turn the situation to your advantage."

He took a deep breath, struggled to remember Hermione's next question, remembered it and then looked very serious indeed.

"Slytherin is a house built on the rank of others. Heir Malfoy is top of the pile, even above the seventh years because there is no one from the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black in Slytherin and the Malfoy Family is next in the pecking order after the Black Family. By rights, therefore, Heir Malfoy is the highest ranking and his father backs him up. We cannot oppose Heir Malfoy in any way, shape or form. Following Heir Malfoy, it is a battle to see who will be the second-in-command after him. It is mostly a battle of wits, but also of the knowledge of pureblood customs, the power of one's parents and your skill in duelling. I succeeded in coming second, and though I barely take part in the justice battles in the House, I am granted immunity from most attacks because of my rank."

"It's the same with Heir Nott and me," Greengrass said, "Unless Heir Malfoy orders our company in the justice battles, we stay out of the way and the three of us make sure that we stay well out of sight and of mind."

"I have two important questions and you can choose between either of them as the question I demand as retribution from Malfoy's attacks." Hermione thought carefully. "Do you three support Lord Voldemort? What is Malfoy up to, do any of you know?"

There was a dead silence and it weighed heavily in the air until Nott took a deep breath.

"I think we owe Miss Granger the right to have an answer to both, in retribution for the many attacks on her, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. I will answer your first question." Before he did so, Nott double-warded the room with Silencing Charms, Locking Charms and then Detection Charms and made sure there were no Tracking or Listening charms, devices or otherwise in the room. Finally he sat down and looked carefully at Hermione, who was bristling with excitement and what she was about to hear. "It is treason for us to admit what we are about to admit. We do not, any of us, carry the Dark Mark on our arms." He, followed by the other two, bared their arms. "We firstly, are not of age to do so in the eyes of the Dark Lord, and nor do we feel the urge to. The age of Purebloods is long over and we do not hold the power we once did. None of us here believe or support in the Dark Lord's cause."

Hermione felt triumphant. Firstly because she was right and Ron and Harry were wrong: the Slytherins weren't all bad and weren't all supporters of Malfoy. Secondly because she had information no one else apart from these three Slytherins had. She sat back on the chair she had pulled forward and listened to the answer to her second question.

"Heir Malfoy boasted earlier this term that he was given a vitally important task by the Dark Lord which would turn the tide of favour and of power towards His Cause. We pressed him for details, but he said that only his parents and the Dark Lord knew."

"It's a lie! He can't be telling the truth." Hermione leant forwards, convinced that she was right.

"Well," Greengrass said, glancing anxiously at Blaise, "That's what we thought. Until recently, actually. Usually, Heir Malfoy adores lauding over the whole of Slytherin how powerful, how incredible, how magnificent he is and organises duels and debates to show us his power. However, this term he's been withdrawn and has steadily gotten paler and paler until even we were worried for his health. Heir Malfoy disappears for hours and hours on end, and even leaves Crabbe and Goyle, his staunchest supporters, behind. He's, in a way, left Blaise, myself and Theo to run Slytherin –not that we mind, we can destroy some of the more barbaric laws he's set down." She chuckled at Hermione's interested look. "You're the only person I've met who's more interested and fascinated then horrified at Slytherin's politics. It's run like the Ministry and everything."

There was a quiet, comfortable silence for a few minutes and then Hermione stood up.

"Thank you very much for your time, and your understanding."

The Slytherins stood up as well and bowed their heads in her direction.

"There will come a time when we are asked to choose. Hopefully you will prove to us that your side is the right side to choose." Blaise said, smirking.

Hermione closed the door and after checking for Malfoy and not finding him, made towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

><p>Harry and Luna had made haste towards the Gryffindor Common Room, an idea suddenly occurring to them by the Lake.<p>

As they reached the Portrait, they ran into Hermione, who was also making her way towards the Common Room. After glancing at each other, Hermione muttered the password, stuck her head through the portrait hole and yelled for Ron, who came running out.

"What?" he grumbled, seeing the other three there.

"Hurry, follow us." Luna said, leading the way to an empty classroom.

"If this gets us killed, I'm never forgiving you!" Ron called out as he struggled to keep up with his friends.

Closing the door of a Transfiguration classroom after everyone, Ron followed them in and sat down on one of the desks. Hermione told them what the Slytherins had told her and they all had a good laugh at Malfoy's expense, before musing about how they could exploit the alliance of these Slytherins. Then, at a glance from Luna, Harry started voicing what he and Luna had thought of suddenly.

"It makes sense what you're saying, Hermione." Harry paused, unsure of how to voice what he and Luna had found easy to talk about. "What Luna and I thought is that Dumbledore ("_Professor_." Hermione murmured automatically) is giving me lessons on Voldemort's character, but there's also got to be another reason why _Professor_ Dumbledore –okay, Hermione, okay!– is telling me all this. There's got to be a weakness of Voldemort's that might clue us into destroying him. What Hermione is saying corroborates. Malfoy is really doing something to aid Voldemort and it's got something to do with the school. It's no coincidence that Dumbledore is giving me lessons in the year Voldemort decides to make Malfoy do something within the school."

Harry looked around at his friends.

"Voldemort has something to hide and it's in the school." Harry waited for the kicker. "And Dumbledore knows what it is."

_A/N: This may be your last update for another two weeks, I'm trying to settle in before some exams crop up for me. This is the longest chapter I've written to date but in comparison to other authors, it's not that long! Thank you for favourites and follows and reviews! Reviews of course, keep me going and if you're an author, I'm sure you love reviews as well!_


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